Volunteers in Palm Harbor are hoping to turn a terrible drowning tragedy into an opportunity to prevent it from happening again--by canvassing a neighborhood with safety information. 

  • Volunteers canvass Palm Harbor neighborhood with pool safety info
  • 2-year-old boy tragically died after wandering into neighbor's pool
  • Volunteer team found dangerous yard; repaired fence, pool 

Volunteers with the Safe Kids Coalition and the Palm Harbor Fire Department went door-to-door throughout the week, handing out information on pool safety. 

During the canvassing effort, they found a dangerous backyard--a broken fence and a ripped screen that lead straight to an open pool. 

They knew they couldn't leave it in disrepair. So, local business Pip's Pools stepped in to drain out all the water, while the fire department closed up the fence. 

"We found the citizens and we drained the pool at their request and helped them out to make it safe," Chief Brent Breuer said. 

The teams are focusing on this Palm Harbor neighborhood because earlier this summer, a 2-year-old boy tragically died after he wandered from his home into a neighbor's pool. 

"When a tragedy like this does happen in the community, it affects the entire community," Breuer said. "We're taking this opportunity to get out, and take that tragic situation, to hopefully educate the community and give them some tools so to not have this happen again." 

The volunteers also passed out information on swim lessons for children, encouraging neighbors to enroll their kids at the first opportunity.