Fourth of July: Big weekend for the Chain Of Lakes
For most of the spring, the Fox River and Chain O"Lakes have been enforcing "no wake." With the except of Sautrday night during their fireworks show, these waterways were wide open for the weekend.
Because there were no fireworks last year, a group called Keep the Spark Alive, was able raise enough to provide the fireworks. The group has done fireworks shows in the past on Fox Lake, so they know the area. So the village wasn't concerned about safety.
According to the Fox Waterway Agency, the now wake zone on Saturday was in effect from 8-11pm.
Anyone caught not observing the no wake zone was given a ticket with fines. The conservation police and the sheriff's marine unit were out patrollling the waterways over the long three day weekend.
It has been several years since the last accident involving mutiple boats with multiple deaths on any Illinois waterway. Although, according to state officials, we are ahead of last year's numbers in boat accident deaths.
In 2008 there were 13 deaths on Ilinois waterways. So far this year, 20 deaths have been reported.
Ilinois Department of Natural Resources director Marc Miller, believes that boating is a safe activity. "Boating can be a safe and ejoyable activity as long as it's done cautiously and correctly. We want everyone to enjoy Illinois waters safely and responsibly over the holdiay weekend."
Rafael Gutierrez, chief of law enforcement for the IDNR says "Accidents and fatalities on Illinois waters usually come down to a coupl of things- people not wearing their life jackets or people who operate carelessly or recklessly. We cannot stress enough how important it is to wear your life jacket and to have a designated dirver onboard.
