Underground heat from the park's super volcano combined with the warm summer sun have melted a section of a road in Yellowstone National Park, forcing its temporary closure.

The 3.3-mile-long Firehole Lake Drive is closed because the road has turned into a soupy mess, said park spokesman Dan Hottle. Yellowstone spans portions of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

The road itself is off Grand Loop Road between Old Faithful and Madison Junction in the park's Lower Geyser Basin, and takes visitors past Great Fountain Geyser, White Dome Geyser and Firehole Lake. The same heat that feeds the geysers softened the pavement too much to drive on.

MORE>>>USA Today

When it comes to analyzing dangerous wildfires, could a sensor attached to a drone ever replace a human eye connected to an intellect shaped by experience and intuition?

That’s one of the many questions federal wildland firefighting officials are asking as drones become increasingly popular in warfare and commerce.

The wildfire drone conversation comes on the heels of a national reminder about the human cost of firefighting after one of the deadliest seasons in recent memory. Nineteen firefighters died a year ago Monday at the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona. In all last year, 38 firefighters were killed in the line of duty as fire burned 4.1 million acres and more than 1,000 homes.

Drones with infrared capability could help where thick smoke keeps manned helicopters from gathering fire information. They also could keep people out of risky situations, provide real-time information to firefighters on the ground and alert officials when conditions change or the fire jumps the line.

While drones have been used in rare cases already, managers with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service say the headlines are ahead of technology and the agencies’ comfort zone and pocketbooks.

MORE>>>The Missoulian