Greensboro Reporter

It’s expected that when a child dies, the family is overcome by grief.

What might be overlooked, however, is that accidental deaths also can have a serious effect on first responders and others in the community. 

“The first responders… go through a lot, especially the ones that have kids… and it hits home,” Jennifer Livers, fire life educator for the Mebane Fire Department, told Fox 8 News after a 1-year-old died last week as a result of being left alone in a car in the heat. 

The sadness is also is felt by coworkers of the parents.

“We’re supporting our team members,” Shawn Dunahoe, general manager of Armacell, where the unidentified father worked, told Fox 8 News. “It’s a tragic loss for the family, employees, as well as the entire Armacell family. The investigation is ongoing, and this is all we can say right now."

Police are still investigating the Mebane incident. The amount of time the child was left in the car and whether the father will be charged with a crime are still unknown. 

Although such things happen rarely in the area, even once is too often, Livers said.

“This is the first and only case that we’re aware of in Mebane,” she told Fox 8 News. “It’s the second case in Alamance County. We hope we don’t have anymore. I believe it’s the ninth death in the country at this point for 2022." 

The community has tried to raise awareness of the danger of leaving children unattended in a closed, hot car. 

The Mebane Fire Department set up a demonstration, showing how quickly and dramatically a car can heat up. In 97-degree heat, the interior of the car reached 156 degrees in very little time.

“Don’t ever leave a child in the vehicle… even if the vehicle is in shade or windows or down, it doesn’t make much of a difference,” Livers told Fox 8 News. “They could succumb to the heat. Children can’t breathe. We can’t breathe. It is the leading cause of non-crash-related injuries and death to children."