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HALLOWEEN SAFETY TIPS
Fire Chief Kenneth G. Silva offers the following tips for a safe and happy Halloween:
Costumes:
- Children should wear bright-colored costumes or have reflective tape to highlight them.
- Be sure all parts of the costume are flame-retardant (check label).
- Costumes should not have trailing materials or tails long enough to cause falls.
- Pointed objects such as swords and devils' forks should be made of soft material.
- If your child wears a mask instead of make-up, double check that the eye holes are large enough to see through clearly.
- Children should have appropriate footwear.
- Children should carry flashlights to see and to be seen.
Decorations: [top]
- Use a small flashlight instead of a candle (see the candle safety section at the bottom of this page).
- Keep any combustible decorative material away from all flames and heat sources.
- Use light strings and animated or electrical decorations that have been UL or FM tested and bear a listing label.
- Before you begin decorating, your first step should be to read and follow the manufacturer's instructions concerning installation and maintenance of the electrical decorations.
- Before plugging in newly purchased electrical decorations or those you have previously used, carefully inspect each decoration. Cracked sockets; frayed, loose, or bare wires; and loose connections may cause a serious electric shock or start a fire.
- Always unplug a light string or electrical decoration before replacing light bulbs or fuses.
- Do not mount or support light strings in any way that might damage the cord's wire insulation.
- Check the manufacturer's instructions on your electrical decorations to determine the maximum number of decorative lights (light strings) and decorations that may be connected together. If the product packaging does not indicate the number of light strings that may be connected together, practice this rule of thumb: do not connect more than three light string sets together.
- Do not overload extension cords - it could cause the cord to overheat and start a fire.
- Do not allow children or pets to play with light strings or other electrical decorations. These decorations are not toys and could produce a deadly electric shock if they are misused.
- Turn off all electrical light strings and decorations before leaving home or going to bed.
Checking Treats: [top]
- Throw out anything that appears tampered with, homemade treats, or home-packaged treats unless you are certain of the source.
- Inspect fruit closely and take away treats that may not be age-appropriate. Youngsters may choke on hard candy or peanuts.
Change Your Battery: [top]
- This is a good time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. This year, buy batteries along with your halloween candy and on Tuesday, October 31, change your batteries.
Trick or Treating: [top]
- Smaller children should always be with an adult. It's best to take little ones out early.
- If older children are going out without you, go over the ground rules first!
- Know what neighborhoods they will be in.
- Have children stay in a group.
- Let them know what time to be home.
- Give them change to use the telephone if necessary.
- Make sure your own home is well lit and that there is a clear path to your door.
- Call 9-1-1 to report any suspicious or criminal activity and ask for the Honolulu Police Department.
- Exercise extreme caution when driving a vehicle. Be on the alert for excited youngsters whose vision may be obscured by masks or who may dart out into traffic.
Instruct Children to: [top]
- Carry a flashlight.
- Use sidewalks.
- Cross only at the corners. Never dart out between parked cars.
- Cover one side of the street at a time. Do not criss-cross.
- Never go inside someone's home unless it's a friend's.
- Never accept a ride in a car.
- Only approach houses where the outside lights are on as a signal of welcome.
- Bring bags home to be checked by an adult before eating a single treat.
Candle Safety: [top]
- Use candles only in rooms where there is a responsible adult awake to control and oversee the flame.
- NEVER leave a candle unattended. If you must leave the room, be sure to put the candle out.
- A child should not sleep in a room with a lit candle. Do not allow children and teens to have candles in their bedrooms.
- Keep candles up high and out of reach of children.
- Keep candles away from items that may catch on fire, such as clothing, books, papers, Christmas trees, decorations, window blinds, and curtains.
- Never use candles on a Christmas tree or other evergreens.
- Keep candles away from high-traffic locations where they can be easily knocked over, including any area accessible to children or pets.
- Place candles on stable surfaces in sturdy holders that grip the candle securely and will not tip over. Be sure the holder cannot burn and it is large enough to collect dripping wax.
- Keep candle wicks trimmed to one-quarter inch and extinguish taper and pillar candles when they burn to within two inches of the holder. Votive and container candles should be extinguished before the last half-inch of wax begins to melt.
- Avoid candles with combustible items embedded in them.
- Do not place lit candles in windows where blinds and curtains can close over them.
- Avoid carrying a lit candle. Do not use a lit candle when searching for items in a confined space.
- Use extreme caution if you carry a lit candle. Hold it well away from clothing and any combustibles that may be near your pathway and avoid loose, flowing clothing that is not flame-resistant.
- Candles produce poisonous carbon monoxide as part of the combustion process. Use them in open and well-ventilated areas.
- Be extremely careful when using candles for lighting and if at all possible, use battery-powered lights rather than candles.
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