How to stay safe during Halloween
The spookiest time of the year is here! Whilst Halloween is meant to be all about scares, there are some horrors that we know you’ll want to avoid, and we’re here to help with that. Follow our simple steps to make sure that your festivities are filled with treats, not tricks.
Three ways to a safer Halloween
1. Switch to battery-powered tea lights
Picture this: you’ve carved your pumpkin to perfection, lit a candle and put it inside, and left your creation on display. Then you, or your child, or a pet accidentally knocks over the pumpkin, which also knocks over the flame inside, and sets your curtains or furniture alight. Quite a scary scene, isn’t it?
Maybe you’re reading this scenario and thinking it doesn’t seem likely, but incidents like these are more common than you might think. Around one in eight of the dwelling fires we attend are started by naked flames (such as matches or candles).
"Fires that start with naked flames such as candles, matches and cigarettes are really dangerous because they spread and develop really fast. Nearly half of fatal fires in the south west involved naked flames, echoing just how dangerous they really can be."
- Ros Clarke, Group Manager for Prevention
When you use battery-powered tea lights instead, an accident is just an accident, instead of an incident. If you knock over a pumpkin, or leave it on overnight, nobody gets hurt and nothing gets damaged. It’s the stress free, spook free option, and we highly recommend it.
"It’s such a simple thing, but by buying battery-powered tea lights for your Halloween decorations this year, you are reducing your risk of fire not only this year, but in the future too."
2. Remember the fire risks of fancy dress
Whether you’re being a vampire, a witch or a zombie, fire won’t be scared of you. Fancy dress costumes are highly flammable, so it’s important you’re being cautious whilst all dressed up. This means when wearing costumes, stay away from open fires, wood burners and cooking. And please take off those spookily long sleeves before you go to make dinner.
Watch our video to see how quickly flames can spread through fancy dress.
Stop, drop and roll
Wear some woollen tights, jeans or a woollen jumper as layers underneath your fancy dress. This will act as a layer of protection for your skin in case your costume catches fire.
And if the worst does happen and your clothes catch fire, remember to stop, drop to the floor, and roll around to flatten the flames to put them out.
Here’s how to stop, drop and roll.
3. Be seen whilst out on the roads
Around Halloween there are many incidents involving pedestrians being hit by vehicles.
Trick or treating around your area? Make sure that any and all drivers are able to see you. It’ll be dark outside, and your scary costume may make you harder to spot, so you need to be extra careful.
When you cross the road, always do so from a safe location (not between parked cars or on a bend), look both ways, and walk over instead of running. You don’t want to give any drivers a serious fright by appearing out of nowhere in front of them.
Those were our top tips and some simple steps to follow to ensure your Halloween can stay spooky, but only in the fun ways you want it to. We’re sure that whatever you get up to is going to be great, but we really don’t want to be invited (we’re sure you won’t take offence).