'Nuisance calls' on Halloween can turn dangerous, firefighters warn

Firefighters and first responders across the Island are preparing for one of their busiest nights of the year.

While little ones are out looking for treats Halloween night, fire departments will be on standby to make sure everyone is safe.

East River Fire Chief Rod MacDonald saidcrews often have no idea what calls the night will bring.

Firefighters at risk

"It's unknown from the time you get there until you assess the situation," he said.

"You don't know if they're going to set up little booby traps to prevent the fire trucks from putting the fire out or if there's something in there that's hazardous to a firefighter when entering. It puts your equipment at risk, you put your firefighters at risk."

Last year in West Prince, there were five structure fires in vacant buildings, as well as calls for tire and pallet fires in other parts of the province. The local fire department will have a crew on standby until 3 a.m.

Ron Phillips, chief of the O'Leary Fire Department, says 'no good comes out of doing these Halloween arson calls."

"You're putting the firefighters lives in danger, they'd be putting their own lives in danger," he said. "If we got diverted from a medical call, you be putting the people that are sick needing our help in further danger."

Curfews in place

Over the last few years, North River Fire Chief Anson Grant has answered calls for burning boats at a residence to burning carts at a golf course.

"These nuisance fires are malicious and they're a potential danger," Grant said. "It ties up valuable resources that may need to be used for a real emergency situation. Instead we're out putting out these malicious fires that pranksters think are funny. Whether they're using petroleum products or whatever to light them with, there's the potential there for them to get hurt as well, so a joke may turn into a serious situation pretty quick."

Many communities on the Island will have curfews in place Halloween night.

In Charlottetown and Summerside, it's 8 p.m.In Tignish, it's 7 p.m.And trick or treaters in Alberton and O'Leary have to be finished their rounds by 7:30 p.m.

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