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Police warn parents about pool safety following incident over the weekend

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Yuma Police Department is speaking out after responding to a child drowning over the weekend.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says, two-thirds of reported fatal child drownings in pools or spas occurred in residential settings.

YPD says it was called to the Pecan Grove neighborhood around noon Saturday, where life saving measures were already being taken when officers arrived.

The minor was taken to Yuma Regional Medical Center then flown flown to a Phoenix hospital.

The age and current condition of the minor is unknown at this time.

Sergeant Lori Franklin says police’s job in situations like this is talking to adults on scene to find out what happened.

“Is there a gate? Is there a fence? Is it still sturdy, structurally? In this case it doesn’t appear that there was any criminal action that took place,” said Franklin.

Sergeant Franklin adds that if you have a pool, and a child wants to swim, they will do anything they can to get in the water, including stacking things up to open the latch or sneaking out through doggie doors.

Local residents Travis and Ashley lost their two year old to a drowning accident four years ago.

“You never let a child under five, out of your sight for a moment. The last time I saw him, to the 9-1-1 call was less than three minutes,” said Krizay and Simms.

Sergeant Franklin urges adults to take precautions before it’s too late, adding that when a child is lost due to drowning it affects the entire community.

“Kids are very inquisitive and curious and they will do whatever they can, so do whatever you can to try to stop that accident from happening. If we lose a child due to one of these instances, it affects everybody,” said Franklin.

YPD says if you own a pool or spa, install layers of barriers to prevent children from accessing the water including door alarms, pool covers and self-closing and latching gates.

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Samantha Byrd

Samantha Byrd joined the KYMA team in February 2022 and is the morning anchor/producer for News 11 and Fox 9.

You can reach out to her with story ideas at sammy.byrd@kecytv.com

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