Sheriff to announce what killed NorCal family of 3, their dog on hike in Sierra National Forest

KTLA ^ | 21 Oct 2021 | AP

[arkfreepdom]

I forget the name of the algae but it emits a deadly gas.

[Seruzawa]

On the Destroyer I was on a fire alarm went off in the forward emergency diesel generator room. The Damage control party opened the hatch and the space was smoke free, no fire. The first guy on the team went in and collapsed in seconds. The CO2 purging system had tripped and the atmosphere was pure CO2. They got him out using the Oxygen breathers. He didn’t have time to feel pain. Just went out like a light. Got a nice bump on the head.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Clearly noted that extreme heat was ruled out.

—”foolishly taking a strenuous hike in plus 100 degrees heat.”

So at what temperature do you consider it safe to step away from the AC?
And how about cold, do you have a safe range?

Have seen a few heat casualties in RVN, hot down in some valleys, no air movement, and full rucks...

[Tunehead54]

Maybe toxic algae per article.

[PghBaldy]

Considering this involves a dead man, woman, child and dog, one would think people would not find it so hilarious that they must make jokes.

I hope they find what happened and others don’t fall victim to whatever happened there.

[Getready]

My guess. The algae produce toxins and could have been upstream from where the dog and them drank. It was a hot day.

[IYAS9YAS]

What is interesting is there had to be at least two or three others exposed to the same air these folks were. Someone discovered them and called it in. Someone else responded to the scene. It was reported they treated it as a hazmat situation when they determined no obvious signs of cause of death. But what about between them dying and the hazmat call? Was it just a quick but temporary toxic situation? Why didn’t the first couple of people who found them or responded to the situation suffer the same fate?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

If it was some kind of gas it would have dispersed.

Inside of a minute or two.

The solution to pollution is dilution.

[IYAS9YAS]

If it was some kind of gas it would have dispersed.

If that's the case, then it was just bad timing in their part.

[DUMBGRUNT]

From all appearances a very nice family, nothing funny here.
Simply a sad and curious story.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Sometimes the Fickle Flying Finger of Fate is going to land on you and there is not a thing you could have done to prevent it. Except not be in that location but how could you know?

[DUMBGRUNT]

—”Maybe toxic algae per article.”

A pure guess:

They filled their water bottles with algae water.
In the warm sun, the algae bloomed to toxic levels.

And sadly they all drank the same water.

[SE Mom]

Press conf on now- sheriff describing brutal heat- upwards of 107 degrees, water bottle was empty when found - showing trail now..

[SE Mom]

They died from heat and drhydration.

[gundog]

Yeah, some guy hereabouts scooped a pot of water out of a river to make coffee. Didn’t see the newt. Killed him.

[matthew fuller]

Your guess or the announcement?

[SE Mom]

The announcement- hyperthermia. Hard to believe, but that’s the official cause.

[gundog]

Love me some Rough-skinned Newts. There’s an Ambystomatid (A. gracile) here that has parotid glands and a dorsal tail gland that produce goodly amounts of the same toxin.

[matthew fuller]

107 degrees and little to no water, sounds very reasonable.

[gundog]

Geez. Sit in the water. Soak your clothes. Seems like a really dumb way to die.