Halloween Safety
Planning ahead can help make this Halloween a fire-safe one. Taking simple fire safety precautions, like making sure fabrics for costumes and decorative materials are flame-resistant, can prevent fires.
Facts & Figures*
Safety Tips
Facts & Figures*
- Decorations for special events accounted for an annual average of 1,000 home fires, most often involving candles, and causing 2 civilian deaths and $6.4 million in direct property damage per year from 1993-1997.
- More than 100 people die each year as a result of their clothing becoming ignited.
Safety Tips
- Purchase only costumes, wigs and props labeled flame-resistant or flame-retardant. When creating a costume, choose material that won't easily ignite if it comes in contact with heat or flame. Avoid billowing or long trailing features.
- 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, heaters, etc.
- Use extreme caution when decorating with candles, and supervise children at all times when candles are lit. When lighting candles inside Jack-O-Lanterns, use long, fireplace-style matches and be sure to place lit pumpkins well away from all combustible items. Pumpkins can also be illuminated with small, inexpensive flashlights.
- Remember to keep exits clear of decorations, ensuring nothing blocks escape routes.
- 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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Instruct children to stay away from open flames or other heat sources. Be sure children know how to stop, drop and roll in the event their clothing catches fire.
- Stop immediately
- Drop to the ground
- Covering your face with your hands
- Roll over and over to extinguish flames
- Instruct children who are attending parties at others' homes to locate the exits and plan how they would get out in an emergency.