Officials say weather will bring more people out Memorial Day weekend, urge them to stay safe
The Memorial Day weekend is going to be a hot one. People will be out enjoying the weather and looking forward to summer.
“Memorial Day tends to kick off the summer and barbecuing,” Columbia Assistant Fire Chief Brad Frazier said. “Everyone’s out, a lot of people are off work.”
So fire officials and medical professionals urge people to have fun but be safe doing it, especially when cooking out.
“It’s going to be warm, it’s in the 80s, so it would not be unusual for us to have heat-related medical calls that we respond to,” Frazier said. “Typically when people are barbecuing and they will be, we do see deck fires and natural cover fires that can get the deck or home involved.”
Assistant Boone County Fire Chief Gale Blomenkamp said cooking fires are the leading cause of structure fires in Boone County.
“People do a good job with cleaning up debris and cleaning up their charcoal grill, but then they leave them too close to the house and it catches something on fire,” he said. “People just need to use common sense.”
After the barbecuing is done, people should leave the charcoal in the grill to cool before throwing them out. They can also put them in a bucket of water to cool them down as well.
“If you’re using lighter fluid, don’t put it on an already lit fire,” Frazier said.
There are health concerns, as well, such as heat exhaustion or dehydration. Dr. Tara Flynn, with MU Health, said they see problems with people getting out of the pool and injuring themselves.
“We see more people getting together and there might be some more food related-illnesses from big get-togethers and food that’s exposed, not cooked properly or (left) out (for) a long period of time,” she said.
She also suggests keeping a close eye on kids this weekend, too.
“Kids are doing more. You have kids that are at a new developmental age at the pool,” she said. “Kids are in the sun for a longer period of time plus the water. Kids and the grill – just keep things safe. (It’s a) good time to think about kid safety.”
