Hiker dies while viewing lava

[geochem]

This is not the first time this kind of thing has happened. For those of you who were around for the November 2000 storm, you may recall that the day after the storm, a couple that had hiked out onto the flows during the storm were found dead out on the lava. There was a lot of speculation about what had killed them - "they had gotten too close to the ocean and been trapped in a steam cloud" and a host of other guesses. I talked to a pathologist, among whose specialties is cause of death in volcanic events, who happened to be visiting out here shortly after the storm. We discussed the likelihood of asphyxia when there is a heavy rainfall event infiltrating water into the still hot lava flows that generates so much steam that there is inadequate breathable oxygen (there are possibly other reactions going on as well that could deplete the oxygen). He investigated this further when he got back home and indicated that he had found cases of fire-fighter deaths under similar circumstances.

Bottom line is that, if you are out on young lavas (that are still glowing beneath the surface crust) during an intense rainstorm, your life is at risk and you need to get to an area where the lavas have substantially cooled.