Kids aren’t too hard to entertain during a hot summer day. Just bust out the hose and spray them down while they run around in the yard.
But authorities are warning that this might not be a good idea.
Spraying your kids or pets down with a hose could put them at risk of being burned. The Las Vegas Fire Rescue posted a graphic photo of a child burned by scalding hose water.
Apparently, hose water in places with hot climates can reach temperatures beyond 100 degrees that seriously injure you and burn your skin.
They posted a warning message on Twitter with a terrifying photo of a burned infant.
“Here in Las Vegas, a garden hose exposed to direct sunlight during summer can heat the water inside the hose (not flowing) to 130-140 degrees, which can cause burns, especially to children & animals. Let the water flow a few minutes to cool before spraying on people or animals,” the post read.
According to WGNTV, the photo had been previously shared by a mom from another city who wanted to warn other parents about what her child had suffered.
The photo is of 9-month-old Nicholas Woodger of San Tan Valley.
The poor child suffered second-degree burns on 30 percent of his body when his mother, Dominique Woodger, was filling up their kiddie pool and accidentally sprayed her son when she turned the hose on, according to azfamily.com.
The Las Vegas Fire Rescue says they share the photo annually to spread the message.
“It’s a file photo, we use it every year to show just how serious a burn can occur to a toddler,” Las Vegas Fire Rescue Public Information Officer Tim Szymanski told WGNTV. “We got a ton of tweets back from people (saying) ‘I never thought about that,’ and that’s why we do it.”
The Las Vegas Fire Rescue said they most recently shared the Tweet during a particularly hot spell of weather.
“Sometimes the people don’t realize that for the length of the hose all that water is going to be hot water,” Szymanski said.
Apparently, it’s something that is all too common in hot climates.
“OMG poor baby. I can only imagine the parents heartache and guilt. Sadly it is one of those things we totally over look. Especially if you are new to desert life. I made this mistake, I actually killed my garden and a monitor lizard one afternoon,” wrote one Twitter user.
So, it’s imperative to make sure that you let hose water run cold and test it before spraying anything with it.
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