BPD helps three children locked in car in 80-degree heat

A Blaine Police Department (BPD) officer rescued three crying children locked in a car for 20 minutes last week. The temperature inside the vehicle was estimated to be 111 degrees.

Around 1:30 p.m. June 25, an officer responded to a request for a slim jim, or lockout tool, before being advised a child was locked in a black Nissan, BPD spokesperson Tami Bhachu told The Northern Light in an email. The temperature outside was about 80 degrees at the time, according to the officer’s vehicle.

When the officer arrived on scene, he noticed a 4-year-old boy standing in the front passenger seat and two 2-year-olds in car seats in the back. All three children were crying but not sweating profusely, Bhachu said. Their mother told the officer they had been in the car for about 20 minutes.

Considering it was 80 degrees outside, the vehicle’s windows were rolled up and it was black, it was estimated to be 111 degrees Fahrenheit inside the Nissan, Bhachu said.

The officer decided early on to break the window if he couldn’t open the door in a couple attempts, Bhachu said, but he opened the door on the second attempt. The officer checked the condition of one of the 2-year-olds, feeling their forehead, cheek and leg. The child felt clammy, but was not covered in sweat, and was also breathing and acting normally, Bhachu reported.

The officer told the mother to give all three children fluid immediately and saw her do so upon leaving, Bhachu said.