Utah woman dies after calling for help while hiking amid intense heat
A hiker who was in distress over a lack of water and high temperatures in southern Utah died Sunday on a trail near a state park.
Quail Creek State Park Reservoir near Hurricane, Utah. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
A hiker in southern Utah died on a trail near a state park after running out of water, police say. It's the latest heat-related death reported during a scorching summer in the state.
The woman was hiking on a trail near Quail Creek State Park when she became distressed due to “not having enough water,” Hurricane City police said in a news release. Responding officers found the 56-year-old woman “unresponsive.” Despite life-saving measures performed at the scene, “those efforts were not enough to save her,” police said, adding that temperatures in the area were 106 degrees Fahrenheit at the time she called for help.
Sunday marked another day of triple-digit temperatures in the West, which has been sweltering amid a heat wave in some parts. The peak of the heat on Sunday extended from parts of the Desert Southwest and interior of California northward into Idaho, eastern Oregon and Washington, as well as western Canada.
Authorities said it was the fifth heat-related death in July, as the state deals with record temperatures.
"We've seen some tragedies in southern Utah because of the extreme heat," Utah Governor Spencer Cox said on Friday. "People who are hiking: Make sure you are well-hydrated, wear lots of sunscreen, and you dress appropriately for the weather conditions."
Earlier this month, a father and his adult daughter died while hiking in triple-digit temperatures in Utah's Canyonlands National Park, officials said. The 52-year-old man and his 23-year-old daughter were found dead after running out of water.
Avid hiker Belyruth Ordóñez, 30, died July 13 after hiking in Utah’s Snow Canyon State Park in over 100-degree Fahrenheit temperatures. Her parents were hospitalized with heat exhaustion.
During the first week of July, six motorcyclists were overwhelmed by heat at Death Valley National Park in California, and a 61-year-old man died, according to a park spokesperson.
Across the Southwest, temperatures will be near-record territory for some into midweek before gradually declining to historical averages by this weekend.
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