Bystanders alerted authorities to a 57-year-old man dying of heat stroke after he crashed his car in Death Valley National Park on Aug. 1, a National Park Service (NPS) press release said Monday.
The bystanders said that Peter Hayes Robino was still breathing “until just before the park rangers arrived,” NPS said. Robino was declared dead after emergency responders transported him into an “air-conditioned ambulance.”
The bystanders first saw Robino stumbling from a one-mile hike and offered to help him, the press release states. Robino declined the offer but made remarks that the bystanders said did not make sense. Robino entered his car and drove it “off a steep 20-foot embankment at the edge of the parking lot.” One bystander called 9-1-1, while other bystanders helped Robino get back to the parking lot and shade. (RELATED: College Student Falls Hundreds Of Feet To His Death At Grand Canyon National Park)
A man died of heat exposure in California’s Death Valley National Park after crashing his car off a steep embankment, according to the National Park Service. https://t.co/eVEUmkLS10
— ABC News (@ABC) August 13, 2024
Robino’s autopsy showed he died of hyperthermia, which can cause confusion and lack of coordination. Outdoors temperature reached 119 degrees that day, the park authorities wrote.
“My condolences go out to Mr. Robino’s family and friends,” Superintendent Mike Reynolds, an EMT who responded to the incident, said in the press release. “His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat.”
The Death Valley is no stranger to such tragic incidents. A motorcyclist was suspected of dying from the heat in Death Valley National Park on July 6. Four others were hospitalized from “heat stress” from the same incident. A 65-year-old man was pronounced dead from heat stroke after park rangers found him in his car July 3, 2023.
Three bodies were recovered from Grand Canyon National Park in the same week in August 2024 alone. A total of 11 people have so far died in the park in 2024.
