Public Safety officials say they're ready for Light Up Night
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Safety is top of mind with thousands of people expected to kick off the holidays this weekend at Pittsburgh's Light Up Night.
On Wednesday, Pittsburgh Public Safety talked about keeping everyone safe.
"We are making every effort to make sure this is a safe and enjoyable family event so we've taken painstaking care in planning to make that happen," said Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Darryl Jones.
"Rest assured that we are not taking this lightly," he said.
Still, not everyone's comfortable. Abbie Collins won't bring her niece and nephew down.
"I worked last Light Up Night in Market Square and a fight broke out right outside the store right as I was leaving so until there's more police coverage, it's not safe anymore," she said.
Expect extra medics -- some even riding motorcycles -- and police officers riding horses.
"That's part of the tradition now that we have them, they will assist in the safety patrols, they can assist in crowd control if necessary," Jones said.
"We're making sure that there's proper lighting, police officers and other emergency services personnel in case of any incidents or accidents," he added.
It's construction time at the People's Gas Holiday Market and Santa's elves are carpenters. The stage is almost set and the vendors are busy setting up.
"Most of the vendors here are just individual people like myself," said Euro Haus owner Alison Brougher. "They are running their own business, it's a small business, a lot of us are locally owned but then there's a few of the out-of-state or international, which just makes it a nice diverse selection of things."
Hopefully parking and closed roads are the biggest problems, because Brougher wants to sell everything.
"I feel completely safe coming down I set up and leave on my own," Brougher said.
Light Up Night is a Saturday again this year and they hope that makes it easier for families to come down here together.
You can find more information about the festivities, including events and road closures, in our Light Up Night guide.