Playground equipment hot enough to cause second-degree burns

TRI-CITIES, Wash. — Our temperatures are heating up fast.

As kids finish up school for the year, more families will be hitting the playgrounds around town.

But playground equipment in direct sunlight can be too hot for kids.

“I don't like the ones that are hot,” said Jayden Hernandez.

Jayden lives down the street from Memorial Park in Pasco. His dad says it's an easy place to bring the kids but in the summer heat the playground is too hot.

“When we first got here it wasn’t that hot,” said Jayden’s dad Adrian Hernandez. “Now it’s a little hot to be out there.”

Our infrared temperature gun read the slide at nearly 140 degrees. Experts say that's hot enough to cause second degree burns.

“They just get the after-burn from going down and that kind of stings them for a little bit,” Hernandez said.

He likes to check how hot the slides are with his hand before his kids slide down.

“When there's a lot of sun out I like to check because I get burned and I imagine they would get more burnt than me,” Hernandez said.

Kennewick Parks and Recreation recognized the hot playgrounds in the summer and decided to put a canopy over the playground at the Southridge Sports Complex.

According to our experiment, the awning makes about a 60-degree difference.

Dan Nelson brought his grandson to play in the shade.

“I almost didn't stop here because it has been so hot, but I saw they decided to put the shade up so we decided to come over,” Nelson said.

He says the heat sometimes stops them from playing in the summer.

“They should do that to more of the playgrounds really because I noticed a difference immediately walking into the shade. It's quite a bit cooler,” Nelson said.

Before you send your kids off to play by themselves, check the equipment with your hand first. If it's too hot to you, it will be too hot for them.