A second person has died this summer from heat exposure symptoms after hiking at California’s Death Valley National Park, where temperatures have lately soared, park officials said.
Peter Hayes Robino, 57, of Los Angeles County, drove a car off a steep embankment on Aug. 1 after taking a one-mile circular hike at the park. An autopsy later confirmed that Robino died of heat exposure, the National Park Service said Monday.
Robino is the second person to die this summer after visiting Death Valley, a region that has experienced an unprecedented heat wave in recent months as temperatures have reached highs of about 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
Los Angeles County man drove car off embankment after hike
Bystanders saw Robino stumbling as he returned from hiking Death Valley’s Natural Bridge Trail, a shorter, rocky route that park officials recommend avoiding on hot days.
The temperature reached a high of 119 degrees that day. Witnesses offered to help Robino, but he refused with responses that “did not make sense,” according to the park service.
Robino then got into his car to exit the park, but drove off a steep 20-foot embankment at the edge of the parking lot, park officials said. The car rolled over and the airbags deployed in the crash.
Robino was able to exit the vehicle and walk to a shaded area of the parking lot as a bystander called 911. He was still breathing when emergency responders with the park arrived at 4:10 p.m., but died within the hour despite receiving CPR and being moved into an air-conditioned ambulance, park officials said.
An autopsy conducted by the Inyo County Coroner found that Robino died of hyperthermia, symptoms of which include overheating, confusion, irritability and lack of coordination
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