DENVER -- On the same day that a 5-year-old girl nearly drowned at Denver’s Aztlan pool, 7NEWS discovered that a gate at the pool was left unlocked for hours after the incident with no staff and no lifeguards on duty.

The popular pool is located in a neighborhood that is full of children. 7NEWS notified city officials about the problem after discovering the unlocked gate around 6:15 p.m., an hour and 15 minutes after the pool had been closed for the day and lifeguards had gone home.

Denver Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Jill McGranahan said it was a hectic day at Aztlan Pool, during which a child on a field trip reportedly fainted and nearly drowned in the pool. McGranahan said she would make sure that someone locked the gate.

But nearly four hours later, the gate remained unlocked. It was finally locked around 10:30 p.m. by a Parks and Recreation employee after 7NEWS aired a story about the gate and called police.

A 5-year-old girl on a YMCA field trip nearly drowned in the pool Friday afternoon. McGranahan said a lifeguard who was scanning the pool looked away for about 20 seconds and the girl either fainted or suffered a seizure and was submerged. The lifeguard pulled the girl out of the water and began administering CPR. Firefighters said by the time the girl arrived at Denver Health hospital, she was breathing and crying and was in stable condition.

McGranahan said it is customary for Parks and Recreation employees to lock the pool once it closes at 5:00 p.m. The Parks and Recreation employee who eventually locked the gate said staff members believed the gate was locked when they left for the night.

But parents who live near Atzlan pool said this was not an isolated incident. Jaime Mendoza lives across the street from the pool. His 6-year-old stepson managed to open the gate to the pool Friday night. He said a padlock meant to secure the gate has been missing for sometime and sometimes staff simply leave the gate unlocked.

"It ain’t the first time that gate’s been unlocked like that," said Mendoza. "It probably happened two or three times already."

McGranahan said the padlock securing the pool has been broken on several occasions.

Other parents in the neighborhood worried the gate would be left unlocked again.

"Any child could've went in there and drowned," said Tesha Clark. "Somebody should be held accountable for their actions."

Another parent, Willis Clark, said he would not bring his children to Aztlan Pool anymore because he worried staff might be overlooking other problems there.

"It may have been just a careless mistake, but it’s a pretty big careless mistake when peoples’ lives are at stake," he said.