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3-year-old burned after falling into thermal feature at Yellowstone

A 3-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns Friday at Yellowstone National Park after falling into “a small thermal feature,” park officials said.

The nearly 3,500 square mile park boasts thousands of hydrothermal features, including mud pots, hot springs, geysers, fumaroles and travertine terraces.

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Officials said the girl ran off the trail, slipped and fell into scalding water, where she was burned on her lower body and back.

She was flown by helicopter to the Burn Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center to receive treatment.

According to the National Park Service, “the ground in hydrothermal areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding water just below the surface.” Visitors are always instructed to stay on marked paths.

The National Park Service has recorded at least seven severe injuries related to thermal features since 2000.

Earlier this year, a trespasser in the park fell into a thermal feature at Old Faithful while taking photos. In 2016, a man veered off a marked boardwalk and died after slipping into a hot spring in Norris Geyser Basin.