Avoid A Spooky Halloween With These Safety Tips

Augusta, GA –  Candles have been the age-old method of illuminating Jack-o-Lanterns from Halloween’s beginning, and costumes are part of the holiday fun, but these traditions can also be fire hazards.

To be sure your Halloween is a fun and safe holiday, Doctors Hospital’s Joseph M. Still Burn Center asks you to remember fire safety should always be a top priority. Doctors Hospital urges caution amidst your Halloween fun and offers these fire prevention safety tips:

Costume Guidelines:

- Purchase costumes, wigs and accessories labeled flame resistant or flame retardant.

- Costumes for young children should not have extended or trailing features, which can be easy to trip on as well as to ignite.

- Be sure that any mask your child wears does not obstruct his or her vision. Consider makeup rather than masks.

Decorations:

- Place all lit pumpkins on a flat, stable surface.

- Consider using flashlights or battery-powered lights instead of candles to light pumpkins. If you use candles consider using a candle holder inside your pumpkin, so you may light the candle first, and then place it inside.

- Always keep jack-o-lanterns lit with candles far away from drapes, decorations and flammable materials.

- Never leave children unsupervised with a lit pumpkin, candles or other source of fire or combustible materials.

- Paper, dried leaves and cornstalks are highly flammable; keep these kinds of decorations away from any heat source.

Halloween should be a fun time for families and children! Keep these safety tips in mind and enjoy the holiday.