An 8-month-old left in a locked car this afternoon outside a restaurant at the Southgate shopping center was taken to a local hospital as a precaution after firefighters were called to check on the child.

The call came in about 1:30 p.m. and the child was out of the car, awake and breathing when firefighters arrived, said Lt. J.J. Halsey, Fire Department spokesman. Outside temperatures were in the high 70s at the time.

Colorado Springs police are investigating.

The incident marks the 89th time this year firefighters have responded to a report of a child locked in a vehicle. CSFD responded to 181 such calls in 2009.

Closed automobiles are significantly warmer than outside temperatures in the hot summer months. The inside of a car without any cracked windows can reach 115 degrees when it is 87 degrees outside.

Children and pets should not be left in locked cars. CSFD recommends getting in the habit of locking your car only from the outside, keeping a hide-a-key or a spare key in your purse or wallet. If a person or pet is locked inside a car, call 911 immediately.

A law enforcement officer chased down Steve Consalvi with a Taser after Consalvi ran onto the field May 3 before the eighth inning of a baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals in Philadelphia. Consalvi has been sentenced to six months probation, and was also ordered by a Philadelphia Family Court judge to complete 80 hours of public service. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Matt Slocum