TOLEDO, Ohio — It's not just fireworks safety to keep in mind over the holiday weekend.
Gas, charcoal or electric grills: they all have the potential to start a fire.
Portage Fire District Chief Barrett Dorner said before lighting the grill, examine it to make sure it's structurally and technically sound.
Always keep it at least 3 feet away from your home. He explained that's especially important even after you're done using it.
"A lot of times what we see is people push their grill up after dinner, they push it again the now-vinyl siding, which is basically just plastic, it catches fire really easy and the next thing you know, somebody's knocking on their door saying, 'hey, your house is on fire,'" Dorner said.
Dorner said that's a major problem because of the way the fire is traveling on the outside of your home, the smoke detectors won't be going off.
Dr. Brian Kaminsky with ProMedica explained the emergency department sees quite a few patients over the holiday weekend.
He said most of them are alcohol-related when a lapse of judgment is more likely to happen.
Some of the more common injuries Kaminsky's team treats are burns from campfires.
"Those type of injuries, not only do they relate to the direct thermal burn that people can experience, but also the blast effect, which can cause inhalational injuries and other burn-type injuries," Kaminsky said. "So, that's just something you would never want to consider."
Whether it's a campfire or preventing a potential grill fire, officials say common sense is your best friend this weekend.
"Just thinking about the next two or three steps down the road from your actions, could save somebody's house or save their life," Dorner said.
Dorner said it might seem obvious, but don't use your grill under an awning or in a garage. Keep it all outside, away from everything else.
Always make sure you're not discarding the embers in plastic trash cans.