Fire officials warn of dangers in leaving children in parked cars

Jace Radke

Friday, June 2, 2000 | 9:07 a.m.

With hotter than normal temperatures already scorching Las Vegas, predictions that record highs will continue through the summer months has emergency services officials concerned about the dangerous heat that can build up in parked cars.

The country has experienced its hottest January through April ever, and the Las Vegas Valley is following that trend, said Larry Jensen, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service in Las Vegas.

"June, April and May were the second warmest they've ever been, and February and March were also above normal," Jensen said. "It doesn't look like we'll see a cooler than normal month in the near future."

Meteorologist Ron McQueen said that there is "a 20 to 30 percent chance that the Southwest will experience a hotter than normal summer, and those are pretty phenomenal numbers."

Higher than normal temperatures this summer will mean that leaving children, the elderly, pets and even younger adults inside of parked cars for even a short period could be dangerous, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

"I don't think it would be exaggerating to say that it can get up to 150 or 160 degrees inside a parked car in the summer, and that can be fatal.

"Anything over 100 is not good, especially for the elderly, children or pets."

In September, Las Vegas fire officials, doing a study of temperatures inside parked cars, recorded 134 degrees inside a car when it was just 88 degrees outside.

On Thursday a car parked for about two hours near the Las Vegas Fire Department headquarters, 500 N. Casino Center Blvd., registered 141.1 degrees inside with a temperature of 99.8 degrees outside.

Children shouldn't be left in a parked car no matter how fast the stop, plenty of fluids should be consumed and sunblock should be used during the summer months, Szymanski said.

"Children left unattended in cars leads to heat emergencies or an invitation to criminals to commit a kidnapping," Szymanski says. "Many times it's an accident where a parent puts the kids in the car and turns it on to start the air conditioning, and then accidentally shuts the door and locks them in."