Police share warning after child rescued from hot car that exceeded 100 degrees
Police in California are warning the public not to leave children unattended in hot vehicles as temperatures soar this summer.
The Corona Police Department recently shared body camera footage of an officer breaking a car window to rescue an infant in a hot vehicle that later was revealed to have reached an internal temperature of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
"LEAVE NO KIDS UNATTENDED!!" the department wrote in the caption of a Facebook post on June 24.
"On June 17, 2025, Officers responded to a call of a baby alone in a vehicle with the engine off and windows up," the department continued. "When officers arrived on scene, they observed the baby in distress, and breached a window to extricate him. Corona Fire Department utilized a thermo-device and advised the internal temperature of the vehicle to be 110 degrees."
Corona PD Sgt. Robert Montanez told "Good Morning America" that a bystander noticed the child in the car and called 911. According to Montanez, police estimate the child may have been inside the hot car for about 10 to 15 minutes, but the exact time frame is not known. The child was removed from the vehicle within four minutes after police received a call for assistance at about 5:32 p.m.
Safety tips to avoid leaving kids in hot cars
Dan Yonan, a public information officer for the Corona Fire Department, which also responded to the incident, told "GMA" that a car can heat up "very quickly" in a "small amount of time."
"If we are, like we are here in Southern California, up to 100 degrees or around 100 degrees, it's a matter of likely less than a minute where the temperatures rise very quickly," Yonan said. "But specifically in the summertime, we have to be very careful to get our kids out of the vehicle and make sure they're safe."
'Look before you lock'
Yonan recommends using a visual reminder to help you remember you're traveling with a passenger when driving.
"The routine that we have [is the] 'look before you lock' routine," said Yonan. "If you have a child, you leave a stuffed animal up on the front seat with you so you remember, [or] maybe you leave a note on the dash to remind yourself to check the back seat, because maybe the kid is with you, maybe they're not, maybe they're at school, but we need to have that 'look before you lock' routine to remind yourself to check the back seat, make sure everyone's safe, and make sure you're not leaving anything important back there."
Avoid distractions
Yonan also said over the years, the fire department has occasionally received calls to respond to a person or pet inside a hot vehicle, so another tip is to pay attention and reduce distractions while driving or leaving a car.
"These things do happen," Yonan continued. "Maybe have your phone on airplane mode or don't reply to texts while you're in your vehicle because a lot of times, that will get you distracted and you'll forget that child or that pet ... that is in the back seat."
Educate children
Yonan said it's also important to teach kids early about car safety and to teach them what to do in the event of an emergency situation.
"Teach them how to get out of their seat belt, teach them how to unlock the door and open the door, and also teach them how to honk the horn in the event that they were to get locked in," said Yonan.
Try stick-on door alarms
The national nonprofit Kids and Car Safety, which advocates for the lives of children and pets in and around motor vehicles, previously shared tips with "GMA" on preventing tragic incidents involving children in hot cars.
Among other things, the organization recommends utilizing door alarms, such as peel-and-stick options that are sold online and in stores, as a physical tool to help people remember their passengers.
Enlist others' help
Another tip from Kids and Car Safety is to ask a family member, friend, neighbor or trusted individual to help you build a routine and alert you if anything changes within the routine.
"If you take your child to day care or anyone -- a family member that watches them, whoever it is -- you want to make a policy with them. They would call you immediately if your child didn't show up as scheduled," Amber Rollins, a director at Kids and Car Safety, said previously. "That one phone call could have been the difference between life or death for hundreds of children."
As for the case of the baby in the hot car in Corona, Montanez said the individual who notified police in the first place was an alert bystander.
"The caller was a person paying attention," Montanez said. "Pay attention to your surroundings and that includes the vehicles you are parking next to. In this case, they may have saved the life of a 3-month-old child."
According to Montanez, the infant was transported to SWH Corona Regional Medical Center after the incident, then taken to Children's Hospital of Orange County and held overnight for observation, "but appears to be fine."
