Death Valley National Park claims another life in blistering summer heat

The summer heat has claimed another life in Death Valley National Park, one of the hottest places on Earth.

Park Service officials say that on Aug. 1, Duarte resident Peter Hayes Robino, 57, was on the one-mile round-trip Natural Bridge Trail hike when he showed signs of being overheated.

As he returned to the trailhead, bystanders saw Robino stumble and offered to help him, but he declined and said things that didn’t make sense, Park Service officials said in a news release. Temperatures reached 119 degrees that afternoon, and the hike can take up to 45 minutes, according to the park website.

When he got back to his car, Robino drove it off a 20-foot embankment at the edge of the parking lot, rolling the vehicle over and setting off the airbags, the Park Service said.

Emergency responders were called about 3:50 p.m., but Robino stopped breathing just before medics arrived 20 minutes later, officials said. They rushed him into the back of an air-conditioned ambulance and tried to resuscitate him to no avail. He was pronounced dead at 4:42 p.m., according to the Park Service.

An autopsy determined that he died of hyperthermia, a dangerous internal overheating that can cause confusion, irritability and a lack of coordination.

“My condolences go out to Mr. Robino’s family and friends,� park superintendent Mike Reynolds, who also responded to the incident, said in a statement. “His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat.�

Robino was the second person to die of heat-related causes in the park in a month.

In July, a group of motorcyclists traveling through the desert basin amid 128-degree temperatures were overcome by the heat. One died, another became severely ill and four others were treated by medics before being released.

A few weeks later, the desert floor melted the skin off a European tourist’s feet when he lost his flip-flops in the sand dunes.

According to the Park Service, July was the hottest month in the park’s recorded history, with the average daily temperature leveling out at 108.5 degrees and the average daily high reaching 121.9 degrees.