Phoenix police and fire warn of the dangers of leaving children and pets in hot cars

Charlotte “Charlie” Jones wanted to eat a popsicle for every meal.

The sassy, fun-loving 3-year-old girl loved gymnastics, swimming and playing with her older sisters. But she would never enjoy her fourth birthday as she died after accidentally being left in a hot car on Sept. 3, 2019, in Gilbert.

Angela Jones, Charlotte’s mother, said she and her husband were planning to take their family on a beach vacation in California the following day and were a little out of their usual routine. The couple opted not to send Charlotte to preschool and instead have her stay at home with her husband, who worked remotely.

Jones said her husband dropped their two other children off at school with Charlotte before driving back home to work as he normally did.

When she called her husband during lunch to ask how Charlotte was doing, she could hear the panic in his voice.

She said her husband sprinted toward their driveway where the truck was parked and found Charlotte unresponsive.

Jones, who worked an hour away from their home, had to get a ride to the hospital where she and her husband learned their daughter had died.

“We had to leave that hospital without her,” Jones said. “She didn’t make it. And we had to go home without our baby girl and we had to go tell our other children that their little sister wasn’t going to be coming home.”

Jones said their cries were soul-crushing.

After the incident, the couple told their children to honk the horn of the vehicle and taught them how to unlock car doors from the inside should they ever be left inside a vehicle while it’s hot outside.

Jones said she now spends her time warning others not to make the same mistake that took Charlotte’s life.

“Please do not ever think that this cannot happen to you,” Jones said. “It is the biggest mistake you will ever make. I was one of those people. I would see a news story and think ‘how does someone leave their child in the car?’ but it’s the way your mind works.”

Phoenix police and fire hold safety awareness event

There were fewer children who died from being left in a hot vehicle in the U.S. in 2020, experts say, as a result of the pandemic keeping many people at home. The number of children who died from being trapped in hot cars dropped nearly half from 53 in 2019 to 25 in 2020 nationwide, according to Kids and Cars, a nonprofit that is dedicated to keeping children and pets safe in vehicles. There were 54 cases in 2018.

The decrease was also evident in Arizona. The only child hot-car death in Arizona in 2020 was 3-year-old Delilah Jones, who got into her mother's car in a parking lot by herself on Aug. 30, 2020.

Phoenix police and fire held a media event on Tuesday afternoon to urge the public to exhibit increased caution about leaving children and pets in cars during the spring and summer months.

Cpt. Todd Keller, a spokesman for the Phoenix Fire Department, urged parents and pet owners to never intentionally leave a child or a pet inside a car when it’s warm outside no matter how quickly they expect to return.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re going in for three seconds or three minutes — take your child with you,” Keller said. “There’s no excuse for that. This is 100% preventable.”

Keller said it’s especially imperative that children not be left in hot cars, as their body heat increases three-to-five times faster than adults.

He said a child could quickly go from heat exhaustion — in which their body starts sweating, their skin reddens and they begin to feel dizzy — to heat stroke, where they go unconscious, their body stops sweating and their organs begin to shut down.

Keller warned that heat stroke is highly fatal, with death typically occurring when the internal body temperature reaches 107 degrees, and can be extremely difficult to recover from.

What to do when encountering kids and pets in hot cars

Keller advised parents who have left their child in a hot car to immediately remove them from the vehicle, place them in a cooler environment and call 911.

As for tips on remembering to not forget about a child in the first place, Keller recommended putting one’s phone or another item you wouldn’t leave your car without in the backseat. He added that newer vehicles have sensors that notify you when something remains in the backseat.

Sgt. Phil Krynsky, a spokesman for Phoenix police, said those who see a child or pet in a locked car could break into the car without penalty under certain circumstances due to a law then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed in 2017.

Krynsky said people must first identify if the child or pet is showing signs of distress and check if any doors are unlocked or windows rolled down. Krynsky said if the child or pet is in distress and there’s no other way to enter the car, the person must call 911 and tell the operator their location, what the situation is and that they will be forcing their way into the car.

He added that those breaking into a car to remove a child or pet should be cognizant of where the occupant is seated and the potential for injury to themselves and the occupant when breaking a window.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix police and fire warn of the dangers of hot cars