A hiker wore flip-flops on a Death Valley sand dune. Then he got burned

A Belgian man suffered third-degree burns on his feet in Death Valley National Park after walking barefoot on sand dunes.

The National Park Service said the 42-year-old man was taking a short walk Saturday at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes when rangers said he either lost or broke his flip-flops in the sand.

Rangers said there were “communication challenges.”

The air temperature was 123 degrees at the time, with the sand dunes being considerably hotter, park officials said.

The man’s family carried him from the sand to the parking lot with the help of other park visitors and called for help.

Because Mercy Air’s helicopter could not land in the park due to high temperatures, which reduce rotor lift, park officials transported the man in an ambulance to a helicopter landing zone at a higher elevation, which was 109 degrees.

Mercy Air then took the man to University Medical Center.

Park officials recommended guests in the park stay within a 10-minute walk of an air conditioned vehicle and to not hike after 10 a.m.