(RNN) – Yellowstone National Park rangers slapped the cuffs on a man who ventured onto the rim of Old Faithful.
In a Facebook video recorded by park visitor Ashley Lemanski on Friday, the man appears to pee into the boiling hot water and then lays down next to the geyser.
“This is the park service,” a ranger yells at the man. “Get on the boardwalk!”
He was arrested in a nearby parking lot, Lemanski told MTN News.
“They had him on the ground for several minutes, first laying and then sitting, in handcuffs, and then took him to the back of the SUV cop car,” she said.
The water and steam coming from Old Faithful are dangerously hot, according to the Yellowstone website.
The water temperature there has been measured at 204°F and the steam temperature above 350°F.
“We take these cases very seriously,” Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk told East Idaho News.
“The law requires people to stay on boardwalks or marked trails in thermal areas," he said. "Anyone who ignores this law risks their life and possibly the lives of emergency personnel.”
The Yellowstone website says: “Stay on boardwalks and trails in thermal areas. Hot springs have injured or killed more people in Yellowstone than any other natural feature.”
Old Faithful erupts around 20 times a day. The average time between eruptions is 74 minutes, but the intervals can range from 60-110 minutes.
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