Halloween Celebrations Could Mean Extra Time for Emergency Calls

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Story Published: Oct 29, 2009 at 5:54 PM PDT

By Peter Bukowski

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YAKIMA -- Halloween may be a kid's favorite holiday, as they get to dress up and scour the neighborhood for the biggest and best candy bars. But all the congestion can make the life of emergency personnel a real nightmare.

"Driving the firetruck on Halloween in years past, I just dreaded going on calls. For one thing, we're gonna go slower, but I always worried about people jumping out," says Ron Melcher, a deputy Fire Marshall with the Yakima Fire Department.

It may be even tougher for police, who are already out in the neighborhoods, trying to keep kids safe. If they get a call, and have to race away, they may have to be dodging eager trick-or-treaters.

Yakima Police Captain Rod Light explains,"We certainly don't want to have a tragedy on our hands, we have to be extra cautious when responding from one side of the city to the next."

With clogged streets from the Friday night parties to the Saturday night goblins, comes longer waits for people who need help.

"No matter what we're still going to be driving slower. That's going to bump our response times up, but there's no way around it. We just have to operate at a slower rate that night," offered Melcher.

But trick-or-treaters must be aware that they share the neighborhoods.

"Everyone has a responsibility here so for the children, they can't be running around into the streets."

Firetrucks and cop cars may be hitting the breaks when kids hit the streets for Saturday night. It will be up to trick-or-treaters to do their part to keep this ghoulish holiday from turning tragic.

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