Tempe officials transported 2-year-old twins after they were found in a hot tub Sunday before noon.
According to the Tempe Fire Department, officers and paramedics provided first aid to the children who were found in a hot tub in the backyard near Warner Road and Priest Drive. The two were transported to the hospital in critical condition.
Fire officials say the two children, one boy and one girl, somehow made their way outside while parents were home.
Firefighters don't know how long the two children were in the hot tub before crews were called.
Fire officials said there was no barrier surrounding the hot tub.
Sunday afternoon, the twins were listed in "very critical" condition, Tempe police said, adding that the parents were cooperating with investigators.
Officials described what happened as a horrible accident.
"We believe that the mother just looked away for just a few seconds, and that's when the toddlers were able to go into the hot tub," said Det. Lily Duran with the Tempe Police Department.
Arizona state law requires that any swimming pool or any contained water 18 inches or more deep and 8 feet wide intended for swimming must be protected by a barrier surrounding the pool area.
In Tempe, the contained body of water just needs to be 18 inches deep and outdoors to require a barrier around it.
"We can't be vigilant like 24/7. The thing is these kinds of situations happen," said Vamshi Lakkaraju, a neighbor.
Firefighters are reminding people that it's not only swimming pools that can pose a danger.
"Really any body of water -- bathtubs, buckets, and here we have a hot tub," said Paul Nies, assistant fire chief with the Tempe Fire Department.
“We’ve heard it hundreds of times. It only takes a few seconds of inattention. Especially toddlers at that age, they’re very, very mobile, and they will find a way into the yard,” Nies said.
For more information about the barrier regulations where you live, click here.
