Islanders will celebrate Halloween (October 31) and turn their clocks back (2 a.m. November 1) within hours of one another this weekend. Here are a few tips for both.
• After setting your clocks back one hour to Standard Time, remember to change the batteries in your smoke alarms. Having a working smoke alarm in every sleeping room and on each floor of a home can save lives by providing residents precious extra seconds to escape from a fire.
• Halloween trick-or-treaters should always go with an adult, older sibling or a responsible friend; avoid costumes with long, trailing fabric; make sure that masks have large-enough eye holes to ensure good peripheral vision; stay visible by carrying a flashlight or glow stick and avoid running across the street or between parked vehicles; and start early and finish early.
• Malicious and nuisance fires endanger people and property, put firefighters at risk and tie-up valuable lifesaving resources that could be needed elsewhere. “No one has the right to start a fire on someone else’s property, no matter what time of year,” Provincial Fire Marshall Dave Rossiter said. “Getting caught and charged for setting a fire can follow someone for the rest of their lives, limiting their education and job prospects.”
• Keep decorations away from open flames or heat sources like light bulbs or heaters, make sure decorations do not block escape routes, and test all smoke alarms.
• Reduce your speed, wear a seatbelt, and avoid driving through neighborhoods where many trick-or-treaters will be outside; stay alert for children running across the road; and eliminate distractions so you can react quickly.
• If your Halloween celebrations include alcohol, please drink responsibly and use a designated driver. Operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a serious crime that carries penalties including mandatory use of an ignition interlock, loss of a drivers licence or vehicle, and jail time.
Help make Halloween safe and fun for everyone – call 911 if you suspect an impaired driver, or witness an uncontrolled fire or any other suspicious activity.