Hiker badly burned and two dogs dead as owner leaps into Idaho hot springs to try and save his hounds
The pool is normally safe for human bathing
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Your support makes all the difference.A man has suffered severe burns, whilst his two dogs were scalded to death, as a hike through a forest in Idaho went horribly wrong.
Paden McCormick was hiking through the Salmon-Challis national forest in Idaho, when he came across the Panther creek hot springs. Whilst the water is usually safe for humans and dogs to bathe in, the water had reached dangerously high temperatures, possibly a result of droughts in the local vicinity, which may have been responsible for curtailing cool water flows that normally mix with the springs’ geothermally heated groundwater, a forest spokeswoman, Amy Baumer, said.
When the two dogs, Dexter and Dahlia, leaped into the springs from a swim, he watched on as one of them died immediately from the scorching temperatrues.
Whilst visitors are always advised to test the temperature of the springs before jumping in, it seems McCormick acted quickly to try and save his second dog from the same fate. In doing so, he suffered severe burns, as a fire crew in the area arranged for an air ambulance to fly him to a hospital to have the severe burns treated.
Reports state that his second dog later died of its burns after being taken to veterinarians for emergency treatment.
It's believed the springs in the area can reach temperatures as high as 82C (180F).
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