Bonfires put on by fire departments remain a Halloween staple in several of the region’s municipalities, including this year’s event in Central Saanich being held in memory of a veteran firefighter who died in 2021.
The combined bonfire and fireworks display in Central Saanich’s Centennial Park will honour Forrest Owens, who was with the fire department there for 35 years and rose through the ranks to become assistant chief.
Fire Chief Kenn Mount said the community gathering is returning after a one-year hiatus. “I cancelled it last year due to extreme conditions,” he said, noting that warm, dry weather continued well into October in 2022. “We just put it on hold with an attempt to try to do it New Year’s, but it never really materialized.”
The focus on Owens makes this year’s occasion a special one, Mount said.
He said Owens was one of the leaders of the annual event for many years, and was also pivotal in public education and fire-prevention programs.
“He put a lot of volunteer time into the event planning and co-ordinating, and really prepping the fireworks,” Mount said. “There’s so much to it.”
The public works department pitches in, as well, he said.
The bonfire begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday with fireworks to follow about 8 p.m.
In Oak Bay, where the fire department staged a Halloween bonfire for decades in what is now known as Firefighter’s Park, the last bonfire was pre-COVID in 2019.
There are no plans to bring the bonfire back, said Oak Bay Fire Chief Frank Macdonald.
Instead, the department has decided to concentrate on being part of Trick or Treat on the Avenue, an annual Halloween attraction on Oak Bay Avenue put on by the Business Improvement Association.
Firefighters will be there this year with vehicles in two locations along the avenue — the intersections at Foul Bay Road and Hampshire Road — and will give the public a chance to try their hand at using a fire hose.
Like his Central Saanich counterpart, Macdonald considered last year’s warm, dry conditions too extreme for a Halloween bonfire.
That led the department to take the opportunity to join the fun on Oak Bay Avenue instead, he said. “We ended up having really good and meaningful community engagement, so we’ve decided to turn that into an anchor event.”
In moving away from holding a bonfire, the department looked at things such as accessibility issues at the park site — including a lack of accessible washrooms. Environmental factors were also looked at, Macdonald said. “When the crews were burning pallets, they were burning in excess of 1,000 pallets a fire.” Years of bonfires were also beating up the park’s field, he said.
Trick or Treat on the Avenue runs from 2-6 p.m. Tuesday between Foul Bay Road and Monterey Avenue.
Bonfires are scheduled for Halloween night at fire halls in Metchosin (4440 Happy Valley Rd.), Colwood (3215 Metchosin Rd.) and North Saanich (986 Wain Rd.).
Those looking ahead to post-Halloween hijinks can take in pumpkin-smashing events Saturday in View Royal and Langford.
In View Royal, people will be able to drop their pumpkins off a four-storey tower onto a car at the municipality’s 333 Island Highway firehall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Donations will be collected for the annual Movember campaign addressing men’s health issues.
Langford Fire Rescue will host its pumpkin smash at Westshore Town Centre, also from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., by donation to the B.C. Burn Fund.
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