Most people have experienced slight burning of their feet when walking barefoot outside on a sunny day but chances are you haven’t experienced the same level of burning that Matt Bershinski from Colorado Springs did when he walked barefoot at a neighborhood park. Matt walked over a dirt section when all of a sudden he started screaming at the top of his lungs. People raced to his aid and found his feet were covered in second and third-degree burns, burns that were caused by the ground!

Geologists looked at the patch of dirt and concluded it was really coal waste. Officials originally believed it was from a mine located below but geologists were able to disprove it, further noting the layer was 2 feet thick. When they ran temperatures of the ground, they were shocked to find it had reached temperatures of 800 degrees. Yep, that explains the burns alright. Geologists came to the conclusion the coal dust was dumped there by idiotic mine workers in 1957 but problems did not occur sooner because the heat accumulating was carried away by the wind. This day however was especially sunny and not windy, causing the temperature to rise.

The culprit

Matt is scheduled to have surgery on both feet and the Parks Department is planning on covering the waste with a cap of soil. Wouldn’t it be better to scoop it away though? Wind tends to carry dirt with it and a decade of weather could erode that cap, leading to the same problem. It’s unfortunate this happened though. Who would have thought unsespecting dirt can burn the heck out of your feet? Look at it, it looks completely normal. This just goes to show that aside from the obvious issues that could arise from walking barefoot in a park, there’s always the tiny chance of getting severely burned.

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