Children's Safety Zone

Pool construction always requires more than just digging a hole.

The process can require hours of research into local requirements and interpreting confusing language to make sure people are following the letter of the law.

The Queen Creek Town Council just made that process a little easier.

Coinciding with National Water Safety Month, the council last week approved a measure clarifying many requirements and moving its disparate regulations, including those governing pool fences, into one part of its building codes.

“Now you’ve got one place to look for all the requirements including fed law, state law, et cetera,” said Dean Wise, who oversees the town’s building safety division.

Wise said the net result saves time and money for both parties, allowing builders to complete their projects correctly on the first attempt.

“The more information that people have that is discernible, the better product you usually get,” Wise said.

It improves safety, said Rick Chafey, co-owner of Red Rock Pools & Spas.

“The benefit of having all this information now under one ordinance should definitely make it safer because we won’t overlook something,” he said.

Chafey said pool requirements for new home construction are often found in a municipality’s zoning ordinances while requirements for remodels are under the building section.

“It really doesn’t make sense for there to be a separate set of rules . . . especially when it comes to the safety requirements and safety issues with pools,” he said.

The move culminates more than a year of painstaking work by Wise, who said he had to pore over federal and state laws and canvass countless requirements in jurisdictions across the Valley and nation.

Chafey said interpretations and vagueness in municipal laws can be a challenge for builders.

“It seems every city we go to has a different set of rules and then when that city has complicated rules, it definitely makes it even worse when you’ve got to kind of read between the lines to figure out how they’re going to apply them,” he said.

Queen Creek said the ordinance passed by the Town Council will clarify some requirements to cut down on confusion.

A 1-year-old boy is in critical condition after nearly drowning in a backyard pool Wednesday.

It happened before 8 a.m. at a home near Greenway Road and 41st Avenue in Phoenix.

Captain Scott McDonald with the Phoenix Fire Department said the toddler slipped out a back door and into the pool while his father was sleeping.

When the boy’s father woke up, he found his son floating in the water.

“There’s a chance the child was unaccounted for, for 30 minutes,” McDonald said.

According to Phoenix Fire officials, the little boy is on life support at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center.

McDonald said the pool’s cold water may have helped the child.

Firefighters are using this time to remind parents to keep an eye on their young children and fence in their pools.

“We’ve got to ask the residents of Phoenix, and the whole Valley, to watch your kids around water,” McDonald said. “Supervision is number one.”

A five year old boy drowned in a golf course pond on Tucson’s southeast side Thursday.

A man called Pima County Sheriff to report that his son was missing about 12:30 p.m. Twenty minutes later, deputies found five year old Zachary Clark in a nearby pond on the Santa Rita Country Club and Golf Course.

Deputies performed CPR until EMT’s arrived and the boy was airlifted to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

By Friday, the question was being asked, should golf courses, even private ones, fence in ponds and water features scattered throughout their courses?

Tucson city courses are fenced in, preventing children or anyone else from getting to their water hazards.

Santa Rita is a private club.

“If there was a fence around the pond, it would probably have saved the child’s life,” says Todd Cupell, a captain with the Corona de Tucson fire department.

One neighbor, Kim Wilson, quickly constructed a small sign after the boys death saying “fence in the pond.”

“It needs to be done for the future. It’s a real safety issue,” he says.

“I don’t want the pond fenced in,” says another neighbor, Bill Hower, who lives across the street.

“It doesn’t solve the actual problem which is the parents should know where their children are and be responsible,” he says.

It’s a dilemma which Corona de Tucson could face again.

In the past 15 years, it has grown from a retirement community to a family community with two new schools.

Cupell says the drowning may change the approach of the fire department.

“We’ll educate, educate, educate and with the education comes the change,” he says.

One of the elementary schools is just down the street from the open pond.

We are told there have been complaints from the golf course that the children have been using it as a shortcut to get home or a place to play.

And the neighbors agree the children use it from time to time.

“There are a few of them that go over there and put their feet in the water or swim in it a little bit,” says Hower.

Pima County Supervisor Rich Elias says it would not be feasible to require fencing around private courses because many times their meander through neighborhoods.

But he believes there could be some rules when it comes to water hazards on the courses.

“Maybe it’s time we take a look at an ordinance,” he says.

He calls the incident a “real tragedy” and believes children need to be protected from water hazards.

The city and county both have laws which require homeowners to put fencing and other barriers up to keep children out of swimming pools and they are on private property.

But so far, there are no laws which require fencing on golf courses.

“There’s evidence which shows barriers around pools saves the lives of children,” says Cupell.

“As a five year old, and as most of us, I’m sure he was just drawn to water and the fish and turtles,” said neighbor Dee McAlpine before she became emotional. “My thoughts are with his family.”

Corona de Tucson Fire District said that this is the first drowning that they have had.

oe Rumley, of Greenesboro, N.C., said it was very difficult for the entire extended family when his 2-year-old son Nathanael drowned in a bathtub in Prescott Valley earlier this year. Rumley said his ex-wife would send him photos of Natty looking at books and playing with blocks, and he was always such a happy child.

“In a perfect world, everyone would see what happened to Natty, and they would take notice,” Rumley said.

But many people don’t think a drowning will happen to them or their loved ones, he said.

“I just don’t want this to happen again,” said Rumley, who attended counseling with his ex-wife and their children after Natty’s death.

People should watch their children at all times around water and take precautions themselves as well, especially when they go out on lakes and other waterways, said Eric Kriwer, spokesman for the Prescott Fire Department.

While many people have heard that Arizona ranks second in the nation for drownings of children under 5 years old, most may not know that drowning in rivers and lakes is the third leading cause of death for teens in our state, Kriwer said.

In addition to Natty’s death, in the past year one man drowned while trying to retrieve a remote-control boat that had gotten stuck at Watson Lake in Prescott, and a Mayer boy drowned after he was swept away from the back of his family’s truck by floodwaters.

The Prescott City Council recently proclaimed August as Drowning Impact Awareness month. Prescott City Council is working with the Prescott Fire Department, and Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Water Watchers is distributing 10,000 purple ribbon cards with river and lake safety tips to fire, police, and other groups around the state.

To enjoy lakes and waterways safely, people are urged to wear a properly fitting life vest at all times, to stay within touch distance of children and others who are not strong swimmers, to learn CPR and never operate a boat or other watercraft while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“When people go out on our lakes and waterways we want them to be totally prepared for the environment,” Kriwer said. “During the fall and early spring it’s warm, but the water temperature is still cold. People need to be properly dressed. It also tends to be windy and can stir up whitecaps which can overturn small boats or watercraft, leaving people stuck out in the middle of the lake.”

Kriwer said kayakers should wear wetsuits, and people out canoeing should wear light, water repellent clothing, because clothing that holds water can cause a person to go underwater more quickly. People should also take weather conditions, their skill level, and the environment into consideration when planning an outing.

“If you’re not experienced at kayaking or canoeing on the lakes, make sure you have the right conditions – calm weather – before heading out, or get some training” Kriwer suggested. “And always wear a personal flotation device.”

The soft soils around local lakes and waterways can give way and bring you into the water as well, Kriwer said. Years ago, some children were playing along Lynx Creek when the bank they were standing on gave way, and they were swept into the creek, he added.

Also, just because water seems calm where you are, don’t assume there isn’t fast moving water downstream.

“Fast moving water may conceal tree branches and other debris that you can get caught on,” Kriwer said.

For further information on water safety, please contact the Prescott Fire Department at (928) 777-1700.

A 3-year-old boy was pronounced dead after being pulled from a backyard pool in San Tan Valley Monday night.The boy, Jaxon Payne, was swimming with his sister and her friend as the parents were talking to friends in the backyard of their home on the 39000 block of North Foxtail Lane, near Ocotillo and Schnepf Farms roads, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.The parents had their gate open so they could watch the children in the pool. The father, Tomasi Payne, went to check on his children and found his son face down in the pool, authorities said. Payne pulled his son from the pool and called 911 at about 7:30 p.m.When deputies arrived, the father was attempting to resuscitate his son, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.Firefighters and paramedics attempted to revive Jaxon. The child was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.