Daily BrewHalloween fireworks popular in Vancouver but dreaded by officials
You can call me a killjoy but I don't see the point of fireworks on Halloween.
Victoria Day, sure. Canada Day, of course. But Halloween?
I live in Vancouver, where a local tradition turns my neighbourhood into a free-fire zone for the days leading up to All Hallows Eve, when it sounds like a firefight outside. Surplus roman candles and M-80s are set off for about a week after Halloween.
Halloween fireworks aren't a widespread practice in Canada, apparently common only in B.C. and Nova Scotia. But officials (and terrified family pets) cringe at the annual ritual.
It's been estimated that about 200 Canadians are injured annually by so-called family fireworks. An older report by the Public Health Agency of Canada that looked at 175 cases involving hospital visits found the injuries peaked in the days surrounding Halloween, Victoria Day and Canada Day. The highest percentage (20 per cent) occurred at Halloween, which seems to see the most free-wheeling use of fireworks.
Firefighters think fireworks may have caused a fire that damaged a Vancouver school last Friday night. Fireworks were apparently used to set fire to some plastic children's playground toys, which in turn set off a nearby propane tank.
Every Halloween, local school boards set up patrols because fireworks have been used to torch school buildings in the past.
Local municipalities have tried to crack down on freewheeling sale of fireworks at stores and temporary outlets that spring up around Halloween (and Victoria Day) to keep them out of the hands of children. But a lot of people simply drive across the U.S. border to buy.
This year, the Vancouver Fire Department trotted out Adam Felardeau to demonstrate the danger fireworks can pose. The Grade 11 student blew off part of his hand two years ago when he accidentally lit a powerful M-80. He lost the tips of two fingers and required extensive surgery to salvage the rest of his hand.
"I felt pretty cool having these and on Halloween I blew off most of them in an hour," he said. "They scared people and set off car fire alarms."
But when he inadvertently touched his lighter to the last M-80, he froze, the Vancouver Sun reported.
"The only thing I could think of was to yell 'run' as there were nine other people there. Before I could decide what to do with the M-80, it blew up in my hand."
Fire Capt. Gabe Roder says some kids are using the powder in the fireworks to make their own bombs.
"We're very frightened with what's going on right now," he said.
Some 41 Halloween fireworks-related blazes caused $1.3 million in damage in 2007, including to a bus, according to Vancouver statistics. There were 25 fires last year costing $200,000.
