Email a Friend
Reader Reaction
RSS
digg it
Printer Friendly
Mobile Alerts
Sphere IT
Save This Page| Do not leave children in cars |
|
Even in cool temperatures, cars can heat up to dangerous temperatures very quickly. With the windows cracked open, interior temperatures can rise almost 20 degrees within the first 10 minutes. Anyone left inside is at risk for serious heat-related illnesses or even death. Children left unattended in parked cars are at greatest risk for heat stroke, and possibly death. SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
A 4-year-old child and an 8-month-old infant were pulled by firefighters Tuesday afternoon from a broiling car where temperatures had reached as high as 130 degrees, Henrico police said yesterday.
"Firefighters responding to a call from a passerby recorded temperatures inside the vehicle of 125 to 130 degrees," Lt. Doug Perry said yesterday.
Yesterday morning, Fredrika Michele Simpson, 40, appeared in Henrico General District Court and was released on bond.
Simpson, of the 1300 block of Coalter Street in Richmond, faces two felony neglect charges, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
A preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 25.
A great-aunt of the two children, Simpson apparently left windows of her car opened when she parked a 1994 Toyota Camry in the Willow Lawn Shopping Center and left to shop, police said.
"She said she only was gone a few minutes," Perry said. But a passerby called police when she discovered the younger of the two children "screaming, crying and sweating profusely," Perry said.
Perry said the two children were treated at the scene by firefighters and returned to their parents. He cautioned that automobiles, even with the windows rolled down, are an extreme hazard in hot weather.
Temperatures on Tuesday at 3:40 p.m., when the incident occurred, exceeded 100 degrees in most areas of the metropolitan area.
Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or bmckelway@timesdispatch.com.
