A caregiver has been fired after she left her charge, a young woman with developmental disabilities, locked inside a hot car in a grocery store parking lot in Maple Ridge, B.C.

Carrie Kline drove into the No Frills grocery store parking lot shortly after 2 p.m. PT on Tuesday afternoon. Temperatures in the city were hovering at 30 C.

As she pulled into a stall, she noticed a young woman in a small car in considerable distress.

"She was in the back seat looking out the window just dripping in sweat. Her hair was stuck to her face," Kline said.

Kline gestured for her to open a door, but the young woman — who she recognized as having special needs — wasn't capable.

Kline decided to call 911.

While on the phone, she says the young woman's caregiver came back to the car with a bag of groceries.

"I asked her, who are you? You're the freaking caregiver?!" she recalled. "Get her out of the car now!"

'Horrible to see someone like that'

Instead, Kline said the woman started the car and turned on the air conditioning.

Soon firefighters and paramedics arrived on scene and assisted the young woman. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital to be checked over.

Kline says she doesn't know how long the girl was in the car, although she suspects it was at least 10 minutes.

"It was horrible to see someone like that."

Pacific Coast Community Resources, whose employee was the caregiver in question, told CBC News the employee was immediately terminated.

In a statement, it thanked the "caring member of the community" who reported the situation to the authorities.

"We would like to reassure everyone that the supported individual is doing well. We have spoken with her family and they are fully aware of the situation and support our actions in this regard. Their wish now is for the family's privacy to be respected," it read.

Heat wave coming

Cars are especially dangerous as temperatures in the Lower Mainland are expected to be particularly high this week.

Officials warn of a heat wave that could see temperatures reaching the mid to high 30s over the next few days.

The closed interior of a car traps heat and temperatures can reach temperatures of 50 C within 10 minutes.

CBC Saskatchewan's meteorologist Christy Climenhaga explains the science behind your scorching hot car. 3:05

With files from Tanya Fletcher