Officials at Death Valley National Park in California confirmed Monday that heat exposure caused the death of a man in the park earlier this month, the second such death there this summer. 

Duarte, California, resident Peter Robino, 57, was spotted stumbling as he returned from a roundtrip of the 1-mile Natural Bridge Trail inside the park on Aug. 1, DVNP officials said.

Bystanders offered to help, but Mr. Robino declined, choosing to get in his car and try to drive away. The bystanders also said Mr. Robino’s responses were incoherent.

Hyperthermia symptoms can include a lack of coordination, confusion and irritability, park officials said. A weather station in the park measured the temperature at 119 degrees Fahrenheit that day.

Mr. Robino proceeded to drive off the edge of the parking lot. His car went down a 20-foot embankment before rolling over, causing the airbags to open. The bystanders helped him get out of the car, gave him shade and contacted 911 at around 3:50 p.m. local time.

Mr. Robino was still breathing until just before the ambulance arrived at 4:10 p.m., the bystanders told first responders. National Park Service medical personnel began CPR and moved him to an ambulance with air conditioning, but he was pronounced dead later that day.

The Inyo County coroner performed an autopsy and confirmed that hyperthermia was the cause of his death. Park officials didn’t say if Mr. Robino had incurred any injuries due to his car rolling down the embankment.

“My condolences go out to Mr. Robino’s family and friends. His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat,” DVNP Superintendent Mike Reynolds, who also responded to the incident as an emergency medical technician, said in a statement.

The earlier death at the park involved an unnamed man from Germany who was motorbiking through the park in a party of six on July 6.

The heat that day was 128 degrees, a park record, officials said.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.