Thermal Pool Explodes At Yellowstone National Park Sending Tourists Running For Their Lives
To put it eloquently: "Holy fucking shit".
Via the Cowboy State Daily:
A violent eruption of a Yellowstone National Park thermal feature Tuesday blew up a boardwalk and sent visitors scrambling to escape a powerful explosion of black water, mud and rocks.
Black Diamond Pool in the park’s Biscuit Basin erupted at 9:45 a.m., ejecting an immense amount of black water onto a nearby boardwalk, destroying it, and sending tourists running for their safety.
According to GeyserTimes, a radio message from the National Park Service reported a "large explosion" with "lots of debris (and) no injuries."
Biscuit Basin was closed after the eruption.
After watching the video back several times I can't believe there were no injuries because it looks like some folks were right next to that thing. That water is 148.5 degrees and it would only take about 2 seconds of exposure to that for third degree burns (according to some quick Googling I did so it must be accurate).
I think, too, we visit these places just assuming we're safe so long as we stand behind the fences. Clearly not the case when an entire national park sits on top of an active super volcano. Wonder how many of those visitors knew Black Diamond Pool had an 80 foot eruption in 2006 and pops off every few years. Looking at how it appears when calm I'd never have a clue:
Side note, the original poster - Vlada March - only posted the video to Facebook. She was there with her two kids, husband and mom when it happened. Here's her husband Steve's account:
"We were walking toward Jewel Geyser when our guide pointed out the steam that suddenly shot out of Sapphire Pool," he said. "I guess that's never been witnessed before. And literally, a moment later, there was this massive explosion and a massive amount of rock (from Black Diamond Pool).”
Steve described the eruption of Black Diamond Pool as "a mushroom cloud" of black water and hard debris launched "hundreds of feet" into the air.
Biscuit Basin was suddenly filled with cries of fear and panic as people on the boardwalk started running along the narrow span away from the explosion.
"Our guide told us to run," Steve said. “So, we grabbed our kids, and we made our way to solid ground as soon as we could. Then we (realized) that we weren't sure about my mother-in-law's status. She's not very mobile and could have been hit by one of those rocks."
The family quickly reunited with Vlada's mother.
She was unhurt, but Steve said his mother-in-law was covered head to toe in mud and silt ejected from Black Diamond Pool.
Glad they're ok, and I'll be sticking with Jersey Shore vacations for now.