Officials Warn Against Leaving Children and Pets in Vehicles
as Summer Heat Approaches

As summer temperatures begin to rise across northeast Washington, fire officials and weather experts are reminding residents that leaving children or pets inside parked vehicles can become dangerous within minutes, even on mild days. The National Weather Ser- vice warns that it is never safe to leave a toddler, disabled per- son, or pet locked in a vehicle, regardless of the season. Children can also become trapped when playing in unlocked ve- hicles, including in driveways. “If you have a toddler in your household, lock your cars, even in your own driveway. Kids may play in cars or wander outside and get into a car and can die in 10 minutes,” warns the official public safety guidance issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) under their National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Heat Safety Campaign. According to the National Weather Service, an average of 38 childhood heatstroke deaths occurred each year from 1998 to 2022. Pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths can happen year-round, not just during the hottest parts of summer. Each year, dozens of chil- dren and an unknown number of pets die after being left in parked vehicles. Those deaths are caused by hyperthermia, which happens when the body absorbs more heat than it can handle, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The danger can develop even when temperatures are only in the 70°Fs. CDC studies have shown that temperatures inside a parked vehicle can rise rapidly to dangerous levels for children, pets, and adults. Leaving windows slightly open does not significantly slow the heating rate, according to the National Weather Service. Stevens County Fire District 5 Chief Rodger Neyens said the problem does not happen often locally, but the risk is serious. “As for pets and children being left in cars, fortunately we do not have this problem very often, but this is never a good idea since outside temperatures as low as 60°F can create dangerous, life-threatening conditions for pets and children inside a parked car,” Neyens said. “On a mild 70°F day, a car’s interior can reach over 110°F in an hour, with most of that increase occurring in the first 10 to 30 minutes; it can become over 40°F hotter than the outside temperature within 30 minutes.” Neyens said children and pets are especially vulnerable to heat inside vehicles. “Children’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than adults, pets do not sweat to cool down, they rely on panting, which becomes ineffective in high, trapped heat. Cracking windows does not significantly lower the heating rate and parking in the shade still results in fatal temperatures,” Neyens said. “If you see a child or a pet in distress in a car, call 911 immediately.” The National Weather Service said that, inside a vehicle, sunlight can heat dashboards, seats, steering wheels, and child seats to temperatures between 180°F and more than 200°F degrees. Those surfaces then heat the air trapped inside the vehicle. In one National Weather Service demonstration, a vehicle’s interior went from a safe temperature to an unsafe temperature of 94.3°F in just over two minutes. Stevens County Fire District 4 Chief Tim Van Doren said his district has not responded to many calls involving animals in vehicles, partly because of its rural service area, but residents should still be cautious. “We have not seen many animals in vehicles, being in the rural area of the county; most happen in town,” Van Doren said. “But people should know, never leave an animal in a parked car when temperatures are 70°F or higher, as the in- terior can reach fatal levels higher than 100°F in minutes. Pets, especially dogs, cannot cool down efficiently and risk brain damage or death from heatstroke.” Stevens County Fire District 1 Chief Mike Bucy said, “We rarely get called for pets in a car. Once in a while, we get called for someone who has a child locked in a car (usually running). Usually, the parent steps out of the car, and the kid climbing around hits the lock button. None have been life-threatening.”