1-Year-Old Mesa Boy Drowns

Nobody wants to remember the 4th of July as the day they lost their baby but that is exactly what a Mesa family faces right now. Our hearts go out to them.

Saturday morning, per reports, the family lost track of their one-year-old for about 10 to 15 minutes. You might think, how can this happen? Unfortunately, those who have children know very well how this can occur. You feel safe within your own home, and you leave the little one playing in their room with their toys, etc…, 10-15 minutes can get away from you very quickly. Then someone says, hey, where is X? The search begins. In this case, horrified, their search ended when they found him in the backyard pool. The boy’s father called 911 and began CPR. When the fire department arrived the child had no pulse and was not breathing. The boy was taken to the hospital where they continued to try and resuscitate, him but after another 30 minutes he was pronounced dead.

The family’s pool is an above ground pool and it is only 3-1/2 feet deep. According to Mesa Fire Department spokesman Thor Watson, “People don’t think about pool fences if it’s an above ground pool. But those pools have ladders that lead right into the water.”

How could a 1 year old get up the ladder? Again, all parents can answer this question. Children seem to be natural born climbers, and there is little they love to do more than climb. Inasmuch as ours hearts ache for the family, at the same time, I do not understand why anyone would think that an above ground pool would not need a fence surrounding it. The ladders leading up to them are very enticing to children. Having any type of pool, unprotected, is a recipe for disaster.

Everyone needs to understand that above ground pools are subject to the same state legal requirements for an enclosure around them as are in ground pools. ARS §1681 states:

A. A swimming pool, or other contained body of water that contains water eighteen inches or more in depth at any point and that is wider than eight feet at any point and is intended for swimming, shall be protected by an enclosure surrounding the pool area, as provided in this section.
B. A swimming pool or other contained body of water required to be enclosed by subsection A whether a belowground or aboveground pool shall meet the following requirements:
1. Be entirely enclosed by at least a five foot wall, fence or other barrier as measured on the exterior side of the wall, fence or barrier.
2. Have no openings in the wall, fence or barrier through which a spherical object four inches in diameter can pass. The horizontal components of any wall, fence or barrier shall be spaced not less than forty-five inches apart measured vertically or shall be placed on the pool side of a wall, fence or barrier which shall not have any opening greater than one and three-quarter inches measured horizontally. Wire mesh or chain link fences shall have a maximum mesh size of one and three-quarter inches measured horizontally.
3. Gates for the enclosure shall:
(a) Be self-closing and self-latching with the latch located at least fifty-four inches above the underlying ground or on the pool side of the gate with a release mechanism at least five inches below the top of the gate and no opening greater than one-half inch within twenty-four inches of the release mechanism or be secured by a padlock or similar device which requires a key, electric opener or integral combination which can have the latch at any height.
(b) Open outward from the pool.
4. The wall, fence or barrier shall not contain openings, handholds or footholds accessible from the exterior side of the enclosure that can be used to climb the wall, fence or barrier.
5. The wall, fence or barrier shall be at least twenty inches from the water's edge.

We shouldn’t need to say that one more drowning in Arizona is far too many. Unfortunately, all too often, we do.


**If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email Chris Zachar directly at Czachar@zacharlaw.com, or visit our website at www.ZacharAssociates.com