Every summer, there’s stories of children and animals dying from being left inside hot vehicles. With temperatures this week peaking in the high 90’s, Adair and Guthrie County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Kempf advises people to not let that happen to them.

“Of course we have the dangers, as we’ve all heard, of pets and children being left in a vehicle. Take time to double-check when you change your routine. You’re hot, you’re in a hurry, things like that. So just take those extra seconds to make sure that we’re following through. You know, do that check-in in the back seat any time that you leave your vehicle. It can get very, very warm in a vehicle in a very short amount of time.”

How warm, you ask? Kempf says on a day when the temperature is in the mid-80’s, with a dew point in the 70’s, the interior temperature in a car can reach as high as 120 degrees in a matter of 15 minutes, depending on the color of the car and the interior. On days like we’re having this week, with outdoor temperatures in the mid-to-high 90’s, a vehicle can essentially become an oven.

To hear more about heat safety, listen to Tuesday’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.