Agencies Remind Families to Stay Safe Labor Day Weekend

Tonight is considered to be the most dangerous for DUIs over the entire labor day weekend.

Typically, Labor Day weekend is associated with cookout, tailgating and family fun. But sometimes, that fun, can take a turn for the worse.

"Our advice is to get the word out whether it's alcohol related or drug related,"said Lt. Gary Gabrish with the Wauwatosa Police Department. 

35 agencies in southeastern Wisconsin teamed up to crack down on drunk driving, through the OWI Task Force, as officers continue to keep a watchful eye on the roads this weekend. 

"Unfortunately, the stats that we're getting from DOT, say that the fatality accidents have actually gone up over the last couple years, when it comes to OWI impaired driving," said Gabrish. 

Agencies also want to remind families to be safe when firing up the grill this weekend. According to the national fire protection agency an average of 8,900 home fires are caused by grilling each year.and close to half of all injuries involving grills are thermal burns.

Sometimes, it may seem like it's common sense, but after you do things for a while and we don't have a problem with it, or we don't have any bad consequences, sometimes we get too comfortable," said Lt. James Gefke with the North Shore Fire Department

The North Shore Fire Department stresses cleaning grills and keeping them away from buildings, to prevent fires and injuries. They say firefighters haven't responded to very many fires in the area related to grilling, and they credit that to consistently teaching families about fire safety.

"It's a great fun thing to do, just make sure you do it safely. "