Rapper posts video of himself at edge of deadly Yellowstone spring. ‘Oblivious’
A rapper posted a video of himself standing at the edge of a deadly hot spring in Yellowstone National Park.
Doeboi909, a rapper from San Bernardino in California, shared the video to his YouTube account on May 4 with the title “Mammoth Hot Springs.”
The video shows him standing at the edge of a steaming spring and shouting over the roar of the geysers. It’s hard to make out exactly what he says, but at one point he mentions something about “how hot it is” and claims it’s “over a thousand degrees.”
Someone pointed out in the comments that the spring he’s standing in front of looks more like Beryl Spring, a hot spring in the Gibbon Geyser Basin of the park. The spring is one of the park’s hottest thermal features, with temperatures over the boiling point, according to Yellowstone’s website.
Federal statutes prohibit park visitors from leaving marked trails and boardwalks in thermal areas, and several people have faced fines, federal charges and jail time after violating the law, McClatchy News previously reported.
Yellowstone National Park forwarded the video to its law enforcement officers to determine further action, a spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email.
Not only is the scalding water just below the surface of the thermal areas potentially deadly, but treading on the thin crust can also damage the fragile ecosystem, McClatchy News reported.
Several people pointed that out in comments on the video.
“Show some respect,” someone said. “When you go off a designated boardwalk walking on delicate ground and damaging it for a video it shows your ignorance. Grow up!”
“This is protected land (in) a National Park. Unreal that you think it’s okay to stand there,” another person said. “I hope the NPS prosecutes you.”
“It’s truly astonishing how someone can be this oblivious,” someone else said. “Just when you think you’ve witnessed the lowest point, someone always manages to raise the bar with an incredibly foolish action.”
Doeboi909 did not respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Yellowstone’s geysers and hot springs
More people have been injured or killed in the park’s hot springs than any other natural feature — in fact, more than 20 people have died from being burned after they intentionally entered or fell into the park’s hot springs, officials said.
In September, a tourist was burned by scalding water when she stepped through the thin crust near Old Faithful, McClatchy News previously reported. She suffered second- and third-degree burns to her leg.
In August 2023, a tourist wandered off-trail into one of the hot springs and burned himself, McClatchy News reported. He was banned from both Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks until a court ruled on the charges.
In June of that year, a tourist dipped the tip of her shoe and fingers into a boiling spring before flinching backward and yelling “it’s very hot,” McClatchy News reported.
In 2022, part of a human foot inside a shoe was spotted floating in one of the park’s deepest hot springs, McClatchy News reported. The foot was later determined to belong to a 70-year-old Los Angeles man named Il Hun Ro, but foul play was not suspected, according to The Associated Press.
In October 2021, a 20-year-old woman was severely burned after she ran into a hot spring to rescue her dog, McClatchy News previously reported. The dog died from its injuries.
The month before, a 19-year-old had third-degree burns over 5% of her body after visiting the Old Faithful geyser.
And in 2016, a man may have dissolved after trying to soak in a thermal area, a practice known as “hot potting.” Workers couldn’t find any remains, and park rangers believe he dissolved in the deadly hot water.
