PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Drowning prevention advocates are warning that the number of child drownings in the Phoenix area is on pace to reach record or near-record levels.
“This trend will be a horrific year if it goes on the way that it has this last month,” said Lori Stauffer, vice president of the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona and works for Scottsdale Fire Department.
Leading into the holiday weekend, first responders reported 51 water-related incidents in 2024, according to Children’s Safety Zone.
Twenty-two of those incidents resulted in deaths. Nine of the drownings were young children and 13 were adults.
“The last three weeks, every single day there seems to be a drowning page that goes out,” said Stauffer.
In Arizona, drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4.
“It’ll be three years for us June 12 of this year since we lost Odin. And I can honestly say it …