French Tourist Dies in Death Valley After Car Gets Stuck in 116F Heat

Q: What hidden dangers turn a simple vehicle mud trap in Death Valley into an inescapable and deadly countdown?

What turns a stuck car into a deadly countdown in Death Valley is the combination of extreme heat, exposure, distance and delay. Once the vehicle is disabled on a remote backcountry road, a survivable inconvenience can rapidly become a medical emergency. At 116°F, the body loses water and salt extremely fast, and the danger is amplified because Death Valley’s air is very dry. Sweat evaporates so quickly that people may not realize how dehydrated they are until weakness, confusion or collapse sets in. In lower-elevation areas such as Badwater Basin, below sea level, the basin’s topography traps superheated air and radiates heat off the ground and salt flats, creating punishing conditions even for a short walk. The salt flats add another hidden hazard: they look open and simple, but provide virtually no shade, no water, and little sense of distance. A walk of just over a mile can become far longer and harder than it appears, especially for older visitors. Once someone slows or stops, there is no shelter from sun exposure. Remoteness makes every minute matter. Cell service is often weak or absent, traffic can be sparse, and help may take hours to reach a stranded person. Search crews can also find a vehicle more easily than a person on foot. That is why park guidance stresses that, in extreme heat, staying with a disabled vehicle is often safer: it offers shade, is more visible to rescuers, and avoids turning a breakdown into a fatal heat emergency.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 27

Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, was found dead on Aug. 17 after he and another French traveler left their stranded vehicle and walked across Death Valley salt flats to seek help.
116F temperatures hit the area after their vehicle became stuck in mud on West Side Road near Badwater Basin, and park officials said Formosa was eventually unable to continue.
A passing motorist helped Formosa's companion, who reached Badwater Road and alerted the Furnace Creek Visitor Center around 2 p.m.; rangers, a sheriff's deputy and a CHP helicopter found Formosa about 1.5 miles away later that afternoon.
The Inyo County coroner will determine the cause of death, while Death Valley's superintendent said the case shows how quickly the park's heat, distance and remoteness can become dangerous.
The death adds to a string of fatal national park incidents this summer, including a heat-related hiker death at the Grand Canyon and a fatal climbing fall in Sequoia.