Two Utah teens improving after burns in hot spring

SALT LAKE CITY - Two Utah teens who suffered serious burns when they fell into a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park last month were upgraded from critical to serious condition yesterday.

"They are doing well, but they still have a long way to go," said Jeffrey Saffle, a University of Utah burn-trauma surgeon for Tyler Montague and Lance Buchi, both 18.

Park rangers say Montague, of Salt Lake City; Buchi, of Sandy; and Sara Hulphers of Oroville, Wash., were on their way back from swimming in the Firehole River the night of Aug. 21.

It was dark, rangers say, and the three were accustomed to jumping over a number of streams along the way home. They were walking arm-in-arm when they tried to jump over the hot spring in the Lower Geyser Basin and plunged into the 178-degree thermal pool.

Hulphers died about 14 hours after becoming submerged in the burning water. She suffered third-degree burns over her entire body.