Temperatures soaring into the 90s drove plenty of people to the Derry Community Pool on Sunday — but it proved to be too many for the limited number of lifeguards available, prompting an unexpected premature closure of the facility in mid-afternoon.

Normally, the pool, owned by Derry Borough, is open to the public from noon to 6:30 p.m. Fridays through Sundays and 1 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

“Since we’ve been open, there was only one other day where we had 100 people coming through,” borough council President Barbara Phillips said of the season to date, “and that was during the course of the whole day, not in the course of two hours.

“Eighty people were (swimming) in the pool, which dictates we should have four lifeguards on duty, and we were down to two. We decided it was best for safety reasons to close the pool.”

The inability to schedule sufficient lifeguards caused borough officials last week to announce in advance that the pool would be closed last Thursday and Monday and Tuesday of this week. This Friday, the pool will be open for private parties but closed to the public.

Closure of the pool on some of the hottest days so far this summer was a result of a low complement of lifeguards — six compared to the more desirable total of 10, drawn from the ranks of area teens — and the fact that multiple guards were slated to be away at the same time on family vacations.

“Many of our lifeguards are siblings, so when the family goes on vacation, you lose more than one person,” Phillips said.

On any given day, she said, “we typically like to operate the pool with three guards.” That’s sufficient for up to 50 people in the water; each additional 25 swimmers requires one more lifeguard to be present.

Efforts to recruit lifeguards this year, usually led by the pool’s adult manager, suffered a setback when the borough learned in May the manager wouldn’t be returning for the season.

Two assistant managers stepped up to help with tasks including scheduling of lifeguards, Phillips said. But, by that time, area classes where new recruits could turn to gain required certification were no longer available.

Councilman Nathan Bundy said that since Wednesday, Derry was able to hire two additional lifeguards who already have the needed certification. But they couldn’t start soon enough to avoid this week’s scheduled closures.

He said he’s reaching out to the Red Cross and other organizations to see if instructors could come to the Derry pool to offer on-site certification training.

Ultimately, he said, “we need our own lifeguard certification trainer. We have calls out to local pools to see if they may have someone on staff.”

Phillips noted it can cost a few hundred dollars to complete lifeguard training or periodic retraining, which is another potential barrier for recruiting teen guards.

Given rising costs, Derry’s pool, like many small municipal swimming venues, struggles each season to approach the financial break-event point. The pool finished last season with a $3,000 deficit.

With limited means, she said, it’s difficult for the borough to compete with wages teens can earn working at other summer jobs.

Newly hired staff at the pool, whether they work as lifeguards, at the concession stand or at the front desk, are paid $9 per hour, with a bump to $10 if they return for a second season. Council last year added a raise to $10.50 for the third year of employment.

Now, she said, council is expected to consider whether to set a higher pay rate for lifeguards compared to staff working other aspects of the pool.

“We feel like the lifeguards should be paid more,” she said.

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