3-month-old baby left alone in hot car

Around 10:00 Thursday morning, authorities in Gulf Shores rushed to the Target store off Highway 59, after receiving a call about a baby left alone in a hot car.

"These calls are very upsetting, especially for our crew members," said Deputy Fire Chief Keith Martin of Gulf Shores Fire-Rescue. "Some of these guys have children around the same age, it's very upsetting to see this."

Deputy Chief Martin said they received calls that a three-month-old boy was left inside a car as his mother went shopping. Authorities estimate the baby could have been alone anywhere from five to ten minutes.

"When our paramedics arrived, the child was awake and looking around, apparently alert," said Martin. "According to the bystander that found the child, they stated the child was semi-conscious and foaming at the mouth."

Martin said a bystander noticed the baby in the car and took action, "They saw the child, saw the door was unlocked. So they reached in and got the child out and took them inside to get them cooled off. The car was not running at the time."

The temperature was around 93 degrees at the time, but Martin said the temperature can rise to the high 100's inside a closed vehicle.

"It's a suffocating type of heat, there's no air movement. You're in there in an environment where the heat is dramatically rising. So you're body temperature is rising dramatically and that affects your organs very quickly."

The boy was taken to a hospital and is expected to be okay.

"This was almost a tragedy, but it was not. So we're thankful for that, but we want to use this as a reminder that it can happen to anybody," said Martin.

Gulf Shores Police said it does not plan on filing charges.