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LEARN MOREPosted: 10:59 a.m. EDT Jul 21, 2023
A 71-year-old man died earlier this week as the temperature climbed to 121 degrees Fahrenheit in Death Valley, the National Park Service said.
According to the National Park Service, Steve Curry of Los Angeles collapsed outside a restroom in Golden Canyon. Responders performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator to no avail.
Officials have not confirmed his cause of death but believe it was related to the extreme heat.
The National Park Service confirmed that Curry had just been interviewed by the Los Angeles Times hours before collapsing.
"It’s a dry heat," Curry told the Los Angeles Times.
After his death, Curry's wife told the Los Angeles Times that he had been talking about visiting Death Valley despite warnings from his wife about the dangerous heat.
"He went having accomplished something he wanted to do," his wife, Rima Evans Curry, told the Los Angeles Times. "He wanted to go to Death Valley. He wanted to do a hike."
The National Park Service confirmed he was photographed slathered in sunscreen, huddled beneath a sign that provided a small amount of shade.
Temperatures at Death Valley have exceeded 110 degrees every day this month, the National Park Service said.
The National Park Service says it does not recommend anyone hike the park's lower-elevation trails after 10 a.m. It adds that sightseers are encouraged to either remain in their air-conditioned cars or utilize trails at higher elevations, which are generally cooler.
