Aerosol cans, toxic fumes, burns and attacks: it must be Halloween

Halloween, in keeping with its deathly associations, is not a safe time. Last year, Dublin’s fire services received more than 600 calls over the 24-hour period from 4pm on October 31st. This compares with about 105 calls on most days. Hospital admissions soar: some people are brought in with breathing difficulties, other problems are drink-related. Every year, people suffer burns or lose hands, fingers or eyes as a result of bonfires and fireworks.

A small number of fire crews who attended the scenes of bonfires were attacked with stones; one fire engine had its window broken. Cars are sometimes set on fire. Meanwhile, in the run-up to Halloween, Dublin City Council confiscated more than 750 tonnes of flammable material destined for bonfires.

People are aware of the risks associated with bonfires, but they’re prepared to take them, says Ros MacCobb, a serving firefighter and paramedic as well as the vice-president of the Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association.

“Sometimes people lighting bonfires will still take basic safety precautions. Last year around Sean MacDermott and Gardiner Street in Dublin 1, for example, we were called out to a bonfire where the young people in attendance were wearing overalls, gloves and goggles, and yet they still had no hesitation in throwing on petrol and aerosol cans. So they understood that this could be dangerous, but it wasn’t enough to stop the bonfire going ahead.”

Humans are drawn to fire, and never more so than at Halloween. The bonfire is an ancient tradition with a strong spark of primal anarchy, and it’s one that has proven challenging to quench.

All bonfires are illegal, but fire services could not possibly respond to every one reported on Halloween night. When a call comes in, a district officer drives out to conduct a dynamic risk assessment. “They do a check to see if there’s a need for a fire engine,” MacCobb explains. “Remember that normal car crashes and house fires don’t suddenly stop on October 31st, so resources are stretched.”

The problem appears to be worse in Dublin than in other parts of the country, where fire services say bonfires are less common.

“Fire services are just as not busy in other parts of the country, either rural or urban,” says MacCobb, although he adds that the intervention of local authorities in discouraging bonfires and in confiscating bonfire fuel has, in recent years, helped to lessen the problem.

Toxic rubbish

Bonfires that take place away from trees, houses and people are less likely to spread, but are no less risky to those who attend. “People do use the bonfire as an excuse to burn all sorts of toxic rubbish, including tyres. You don’t even have to breathe it in; the toxic chemicals can be absorbed through your skin. And you don’t know what someone might throw on it. Aerosol cans are lethal when they explode.”

Fire services have to consider their own health and safety before attending a call-out. There are some instances, says MacCobb, where fire crew are at risk of attack, and gardaí need to attend with them. “I’ve been at fires where we’re battling a blaze and surrounded by a public order unit. If our truck is damaged, it comes off the road and is out of service for the evening.” Fire crews also face an increased cancer risk, according to numerous international studies.

There is something in us which draws us to the fire, says MacCobb. “There’s huge potential for something to go wrong, If you do insist on going to one of them, stay well back: you’d be amazed how far an aerosol can, thrown carelessly in by one person, can go when it explodes, and you’re less exposed to the fumes.

“If you’re lighting a chiminea or a firepit, you also need to be careful what you throw in. Don’t use it as an occasion to burn rubbish.”

Tom Daly of Dublin Fire Brigade’s fire prevention section says that, while they don’t condone bonfires at all, those that are going ahead should be more organised and involve adults. “Remember as well that there’s a social impact: if a bonfire is held in the middle of a football pitch, it can take two or three years for the ground to recover.”

The Dublin Fire Brigade is currently running a campaign with schoolchildren to reduce the number of attacks on firemen and raise awareness of Halloween dangers. See Facebook.com/DublinFireBrigade or @DublinFireBrigade

Hoarded bonfire materials can be reported on 1800-251500 or to customerservices@dublincity.ie

Dublin City Council will run a number of alternative, family-friendly events around Halloween, including the Ballymun Otherworld Festival, the Finglas Fight Night Halloween Festival and the Scarecrow and Pumpkins Festival in Sandymount. There’s an organised fireworks display in Donaghmede Park. See dublincity.ie for details