SCOTTSDALE -A 20-month-old girl pulled Friday from her family's backyard swimming pool in north Scottsdale is the Valley's eighth child water-related death this year.

The Friday incident was Scottsdale's first pool drowning of the year.

The toddler's mother found the girl floating in the pool at 76th Street and Maņana Drive about 10 a.m.

The pool was fenced, but it appeared the child got through a gate, said Patti Jo Angelini, a Scottsdale Fire Department spokeswoman.

The mother called 911 and tried to resuscitate her daughter.

Firefighters administered advanced life-saving techniques and took the child to Phoenix Children's Hospital, but the girl did not survive.

Scottsdale firefighters have responded to 10 water-related incidents since Jan. 1.

"These are the toughest calls for firefighters to respond to because many of them have children or grandchildren about the same age," Angelini said.

She urged parents and caregivers to be aware of a small child's whereabouts at all times and to install alarms or chimes on doors to alert them when they are opened. Parents also should be trained in CPR and children should learn to swim at a young age, she said.

"Kids usually don't get hurt when they are swimming," Angelini said.

Reproduced with permission from: The Arizona Republic By Carol Sowers ©Copyright 2007 Arizona Republic