Heat Poses Danger At Playgrounds

A 2 year old Oklahoma City boy suffers third degree burns at a playground. The child stepped on a metal maintenance cover on the ground at an Oklahoma City park and was burned. <br/><br/>Firefighters

Thursday, July 20th 2006, 9:53 am

By: News On 6

A 2 year old Oklahoma City boy suffers third degree burns at a playground. The child stepped on a metal maintenance cover on the ground at an Oklahoma City park and was burned.

Firefighters used a thermal imager and found that a black plastic slide rail registered at 158 degrees and the seat of a swing was 140 degrees.

Thermometers may say its 100 degrees outside, but that case in Oklahoma City proves that surfaces in the sun can get a lot hotter.

News on 6's Joshua Brakhage found out just how hot it is? He took this infrared thermometer out and in fact, the most popular places to keep cool are some of the hottest of all.

At Big Splash, bare feet move quicker or look for a place in the pool, or in the shade. Moms have their entire crew in sandals, the only sure fire way for feet to get some relief from the heat. "Lucky for the sandals, because I mean, they couldn't walk." Tina Keller keeps an eye on her daughter Kristie, when she's in the pool and when she wanders out. â€œKristie knows that if you walk on the blue paint, it's not hot, so if she's on the concrete, she either wants me to hold her or we have to have shoes on.

We tested the pavement. We found spots that were hotter than 160 degrees.

At Florence Park at 21st and Gary, families stay away from the hot playground equipment. It's easy to see how a metal slide can heat up to 150 degrees or more after just an hour or so in the sun.

But a lot of people underestimate just how hot plastic can get. The plastic deck on the play set at Fred Johnson Park on Riverside registered more than 140 degrees.

So when your kids take a walk in the park this summer, make sure their feet are covered. Experts tell us dashboards, steering wheels, and seat belt buckles stay cooler in light-colored car interiors than dark ones.

But something that can make a big difference with the internal temperature of any car is a sun visor.