As temperatures rise, interior of cars get even hotter

TEMPE, Ariz. – In the shade, it’s about 95 degrees.

However, when Mike Reichling from the Tempe Fire Department moves the thermometer from the shade to a car sitting out in the sun, it doesn’t take long for that temperature to shoot up.

“Within 10 minutes it hit over 135 degrees,” said Reichling.

Those temperatures will likely get worse as the summer drags on. Reichling said he’s seen it get to near 180 degrees inside a car. Because of that, Tempe firefighters are warning drivers to not leave their children or pets in a car, not even for a minute.

“It doesn’t matter if you roll down the window,” said Reichling. “The heating of the glass and the metal in the car makes the temperature unbearable.”

Last year, there were 33 deaths of children in the U.S. due to heat stroke from being left out in hot cars. Reichling said firefighters and police responded to over 900 calls of people who had been locked out of their car last year. Most of those people had forgotten their child or pet inside.