A 78-year-old forest ranger Bryce Canyon National Park died from injuries he sustained after tripping and falling while on duty.
Tom Lorig was working with park visitors, directing them to a shuttle, during the annual Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival around 11:30 p.m. Friday when he fell and hit his head on a large rock, the The National Park Service said in a press release.
A visitor found Lorig unconscious and immediately alerted a park ranger. Park rangers, medically trained bystanders and local emergency medical services personnel provided Lorig with life-saving first aid but were unable to resuscitate him, the NPS said.
The deceased worked as a volunteer park ranger
Lorig, who worked as a nurse in Seattle for 40 years, has worked for the NPS as a permanent, seasonal and volunteer park ranger.
He began his work with the National Park Service at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in June 1968 and has served at 14 national park sites including Badlands, Bryce Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, El Malpais, Florissant Fossil Beds, Glen Canyon, Klondike Gold Rush, Mount Rainier. , New River Gorge, Olympic, Saguaro, Yosemite, Zion and Dinosaur National Monument, “which he particularly loved,” the NPS said.
“Tom Lorig served Bryce Canyon, the National Park Service and the public as an interpretive ranger, making connections between the world and these special places he loved,” said park Superintendent Jim Ireland, in a statement .
“As our community processes and mourns this terrible loss, we extend our deepest condolences to all of Ranger Lorig’s family and friends.”
Ireland also thanked NPS officials, emergency services personnel and local bystanders who helped administer first aid to the ranger.
Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southern Utah, a few hours’ drive from Zion National Park and Capitol Reef National Park and about four hours from Salt Lake City.
Bryce Canyon is the smallest and highest of Utah’s “Mighty 5” National Parks at 56 square miles and an average elevation of 8,000 feet (some areas exceed 9,000 feet above sea level).
Contributor: Eve Chen, USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X @saman_shafiq7.
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: Death of Bryce Canyon ranger: NPS mourns loss of Tom Lorig in Utah
