Yellowstone hydrothermal explosion sends tourists running from smoke, debris

globalnews.ca:

A hydrothermal explosion at Yellowstone National Park sent visitors running for cover Tuesday morning, according to park officials and footage taken by a witness. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

The blast occurred around 10:20 a.m. local time near Sapphire Pool in Biscuit Basin, located about 3.5 kilometres northwest of the famous Old Faithful geyser, the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) said in a release. The entire area of Biscuit Basin, including the parking lot and boardwalks, has been closed until further notice for safety reasons.

Video of the explosion showed a huge column of grey smoke rising over the Biscuit Basin thermal area, raining down debris and rocks. Visitors, including numerous children, scrambled to run from the blast along the park’s wooden boardwalk.

Officials say the extent of the damage done by the explosion is unknown at this time. Photos of the aftermath showed the Biscuit Basin boardwalk covered in black dust and debris with extensive damage to some wooden guardrails. Planks of wood, seemingly from the boardwalk, lie littered on the ground.

Vlada March was on a tour in the basin when her guide said something unusual was happening. March started taking video.

“We saw more steam coming up and within seconds it became this huge thing,” said March, a California real estate agent who was with her mom, husband and their two kids. “It just exploded and became like a black cloud that covered the sun.”

“I think our tour guide said ‘Run,’ and I started running and I started screaming at the kids, ‘Run, run, run,’ and I continued filming what I could,” she told The Associated Press.

Rocks that fell from the sky smashed the boardwalk they had been walking on. March’s mom, who had been sitting on a