Halloween night may have been chock full of “scary” events for trick or treaters, but it wasn’t for Richmond’s firefighters and police.
According to statistics for Saturday night, there were no significant calls, and no increase in calls compared to other Halloween nights in the last three years, said Richmond’s Deputy Fire Chief Kim Howell.
Howell owed the lack of a spike in recent years to city bylaws that restrict the use of fireworks without a permit and a total of five, organized community events where fireworks were set off — with a permit — by professionals in the pyrotechnic business.
“Its (permitted use) made a big difference in the number of calls we answer on Halloween night,” Howell said, adding the number of community events means trick or treaters are not missing out and can still enjoy dazzling shows in the skies.
As for police calls, Richmond RCMP reported a slight increase in calls on Oct. 31 — 156 calls that day, compared to 146 for the same time last year.
And while there were the regular compliment of offences, none considered to be of a criminal nature were directly attributable to Halloween, said Richmond RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dennis Hwang.
A total of 29 were related to bylaw infringements, mostly noise complaints that may have involved fireworks. That was higher than last year when 19 complaints were logged. However, the rise may be a result of population increase, Hwang said, adding education on the use of fireworks, permits and community-based events have all contributed to a relatively consistent number of calls to emergency services.
Halloween no horror for firefighters
