Firefighters recused a 15-month-old child who was accidently locked inside a car at a Pitt Meadows mall on Monday.

The rescue occurred at Meadowtown Mall at 1:30 p.m. A child accidentally got locked in a vehicle along with the keys. The woman called police and fire department right away.

Firefighters had to break the window to free the 15-month-old child.

Pitt Meadows Fire Rescue Service chief Don Jolley said the rescue is a reminder not to leave children or pets in parked vehicles.

He said a lot of people lock their then use their remote to start the vehicle, with the air conditioning on.

But cars only run for about five minutes when started that way. Then they shut off, as does the air conditioning.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 run forever.鈥�

Within five minutes, a car鈥檚 interior temperature can rise dangerously. If people see a child or pet left in a car they should call 911, Jolley added.

鈥淲e鈥檒l get there quickly and deal with it.鈥�

B.C. spokesperson Lorie Chortyk said so far in Maple Ridge this year, the SPCA鈥檚 received 18 calls about dogs left in hot cars.

Provincewide, the SPCA has received 366 calls. That鈥檚 about half the number of calls received during the same period in 2016, but that could be because of this year鈥檚 cold spring.

People should call in if they see an animal in a locked car, rather than break a window, she said.

鈥淭here will be somebody there very quickly.鈥�

If the SPCA can鈥檛 get there, they鈥檒l call police. The SPCA鈥檚 hotline for that is 1-855-622-7722. People should put that number into their phones, so it鈥檚 there when needed.

She added that people love their pets and don鈥檛 endanger them deliberately.

鈥淧eople don鈥檛 realize how quickly things can go wrong.鈥�

It takes only minutes for a car to heat to dangerous temperatures, even in the shade or with the windows down.

With the forecast for warm weather, both Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge fire departments are watching conditions.

On Monday at about noon, someone fired a flare gun into a grass field in the Pitt Addington Marsh, in north Pitt Meadows.

But the flare landed on the north side of the dike in damp, marshy grass. Crews put out the blaze within half an hour, 鈥渂ut it was a couple hundred yards from the mountain, which then would have become interesting,鈥� Jolley said.

Jolley said it took fire crews about 20 minutes to get to the site, on the south edge of the marsh near the Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge border. Three trucks responded and water had to be hauled in.

The suspect who fired the flare hasn鈥檛 been found and it鈥檚 not sure why he did that. 鈥淣obody knows.鈥�

Jolley also reminded people not to toss out their cigarette butts on to the road. So far, they鈥檝e had a dozen grass fires in the Meadowtown Mall area. Those small blazes can spread to cedar hedges, if cedar bushes are growing near homes.

鈥淭hey burn very quickly, these cedar hedges are very dry. One cigarette butt and it will light them all up. Keep them wet.鈥�

Pitt Meadows has a year-round ban on all fires, including camp fires. Maple Ridge allows campfires in some rural areas and is considering implementing a fire ban and is monitoring conditions.