Community Corner

Take These Precautions to Keep Halloween Safe

The National Fire Protection Association offers these tips.


By Les Masterson

Halloween is a time of fun, but it can also turn dangerous as decorations and candles can be a fire hazard. 

The National Fire Protection Association reports that there were an average of 1,000 fires involving decorations each year between 2006-2010, which resulted in an average of six deaths and 53 injuries and $16 million in property damage. Over that same five-year period, 11,640 home fires started by candles, which resulted in 126 deaths, 953 injuries and $438 million in property damage.

“Just about everyone loves a good scare on Halloween, but not when it comes to safety,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA’s vice president of Outreach and Advocacy. “Costumes with billowing or long trailing fabric and candle decorations should be avoided to keep fun events from turning into tragedies.” 

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NFPA provides these Halloween safety tips:

  • When choosing a costume, stay away from billowing or long trailing fabric. If you are making your own costume, choose material that won't easily ignite if it comes into contact with heat or flame. If your child is wearing a mask, make sure the eye holes are large enough so they can see out.
  • Provide children with flashlights to carry for lighting or glow sticks as part of their costume.
  • Dried flowers, cornstalks, and crepe paper are highly flammable. Keep these and other decorations well away from all open flames and heat sources, including light bulbs and heaters.
  • It is safest to use a flashlight or battery-operated candles in a jack-o-lantern. If you use a real candle, use extreme caution. Make sure children are watched at all times when candles are lit. When lighting candles inside jack-o-lanterns, use long fireplace-style matches or a utility lighter. Be sure to place lit pumpkins well away from anything that can burn and far away from trick-or-treaters, doorsteps, walkways, and yards.
  • If you choose to use candle decorations, make sure to keep them well attended at all times.
  • Remember to keep exits clear of decorations, so nothing blocks escape routes.
  • Tell children to stay away from open flames. Be sure they know how to stop, drop and roll if their clothing catches fire. (Have them practice stopping immediately, dropping to the ground, covering their face with hands, and rolling over and over to put the flames out.)
  • Use flashlights as alternatives to candles or torch lights when decorating walkways and yards. They are much safer for trick-or-treaters, whose costumes may brush against the lighting.

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