Langley emergency services were glad the mischievous ghouls and goblins were at a minimum on Halloween night.
“Lots of fireworks, unauthorized use of fireworks in the Township,” said deputy fire chief Monty Armstrong. “It was a little bit busier than normal. We had a few extra calls for nuisance fires, you know, Halloween-related dumpster fires.”
He said there were no authorized fireworks displays in the Township this Halloween. So all the noise people heard were illegal fireworks.
Call volumes to the Township fire department were a bit higher than normal with no problems in a particular neighbourhood.
“Not one area was worse than the other,” Armstrong said. “Mostly mischief type calls, but it wasn’t really that far above what we deal with in a normal day.”
The situation was similar for Langley RCMP.
“We had the usual mischief-type complaints,” said Cpl. Craig Van Herk.
There were numerous calls about fireworks and there were some calls about public drinking or drunkenness, but nothing of a serious nature. By the time police arrived at the scene of a fireworks complaint, the culprits would be gone and the noises would be coming from down the block, Van Herk said.
The Township was called to a house fire in Willoughby around dinnertime but the cause remains under investigation so he could not say whether it was Halloween related or cause by homeless people using an abandoned home.
Langley City Fire Rescue wants you to have fun and be safe this Halloween! #LangleyCity #ThePlacetoBe pic.twitter.com/MU2U48KKFZ
— Langley City Fire (@LangleyCityFire) October 31, 2019
Assistant chief Scott Kennedy, with Langley City Fire Rescue, said the night was mostly uneventful, thankfully.
“We had a number of small fires including garbage fires,” he noted.
As well, there were lots of illegal fireworks set off. There is no specific City neighbourhoods where the problem is worse.
“We had a number of different fireworks incidents including the downtown City area to residential areas,” Kennedy said.
But neither the nuisance fires nor the fireworks not caused any injuries or damage to property.
“Halloween is hit and miss,” he said.
Rainy Halloweens force people indoors, he explained. This year was cold and clear which can make for problems.
City fire crews were out touring the community Thursday evening doing safety checks and used it as an opportunity to give out some treats to the kids.