13 Spooktacular Halloween Safety Tips for Homeowners
We all love a fun and spooky Halloween! Ensuring safety of little ghosts, princesses and pirates is always top priority, and keeping your home safe and secure is important too. Read on to keep your home safe for a spooktacular Halloween for all!
Clear debris from pathways, yard and sidewalks. Keep walking areas free of obstacles to prevent tripping and falling accidents. Make sure your Halloween decor is well-lit so visitors don’t trip over pumpkins, gravestones, skeletons and other decorations.
Fix and level paving stones and fill in divots in your yard.
Go flameless and use solar- or battery-powered lights are a lot safer than candles in your jack-o-lanterns or along your path. Real candles add great spooky ambiance, but can pose a fire hazard (don’t leave them unattended). Consider using LED lights that flicker like real candles.
Good lighting is important for Halloween safety. Give your pathways, any stairs and your front door well-lit. Some costumes and masks make it difficult to see clearly. Replace bulbs on your porch or at your door and consider using garden lights along your pathway too.
If you’re using a fireplace or a fire pit, don’t leave it unsupervised. Embers can spark fires if they land on decorations like cornstalks or hay bales or billowing ghost decorations hanging from trees. With streams of visitors and little trick-or-treaters with capes and flowing costumes, keep a close eye on any open flame.
Keep your pets safe and protected, so they can’t escaping outside or snap at a trick-or-treater. Halloween can be an active and noisy evening, which can confuse and stress some pets. Keep your pet in a room away from the stream of trick-or-treaters. Also be mindful that black cats are associated with Halloween superstitions and can be targeted for pranks and harm.
Keep up appearances and look like you’re home. Even you’re out and about yourself, leave your lights and TV on so you don’t alert intruders that you’re out. A completely dark home makes your home a target for vandals and thieves. Activate your security alarm when you leave. Set timers or use your smart app if you’ve installed smart devices and lights.
Park your car in your garage, if you can. If not, park your car in a well-sit spot on the street. This provides a clearer view of your home and door. It also prevents theft of your car. Or pranksters and vandals from damaging it. Remember if you park on the street, remove valuables, even things like charger cords and sunglasses.
Secure Halloween decorations. After making the scariest Halloween house on the block, secure your decorations to permanent structures (like trees or fences) so they don’t blow or roll away or get tripped over. You can weigh some decorates with sandbags, or secure with wooden or metal stakes. Keep your spooky decorations away from walkways and stairs.
Secure your home before the trick-or-treaters arrive. Except the door you’ll be using, lock your doors (patio, and sliding doors, garage and basement doors) and windows to prevent intruders, even little ones.
Store garden tools, hoses, bicycles, skateboards safely. You may even want to move potted plants if they decorate your porch.
Teal pumpkins show trick-or-treaters you have allergy-friendly treats. While the biggest favorite treats are candy, consider offering non-food treats such as stickers, temporary tattoos, or buttons to kids with food allergies.iding glass door.
Tricks and pranks – Halloween is always full of treats and sometimes tricks. Keep a watchful eye open for odd behavior or suspicious activity on your street and in your neighborhood. It might be harder to detect with little and big trick-or-treaters, but contact your HOA, security company or local law enforcement if you see anything that concerns you.
After the waves of trick-or-treaters stop, you may want to keep your lights on or set your motion-activated lighting. Collect your flameless lights or blow out your candles and extinguish any fires. And let your pet have free reign of your home again!
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A hot dog!
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