Thread: Halloween display prompts 911 Call

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A frighteningly life-like Halloween tableau in St. John's led to a 911 call and a response from emergency officials Monday morning.

The owner of the property in the north end of the city is well known for extravagant Halloween displays.

This year, a van is parked head-on into a partly ripped down fence, giving the impression that the vehicle has slammed into the property.

A realistic-looking mannequin with long dark hair is slumped over the steering wheel, and black streaks on the pavement behind the van look like skid marks.

On Monday morning, 911 officials received a call about the scene, with a report that the van had slammed into the fence and the driver was still inside, appearing to be injured.
The life-like mannequin inside the van convinced someone to call 911.The life-like mannequin inside the van convinced someone to call 911. (CBC)

Emergency crews responded to the address and discovered the Halloween prank.

The owner of the property used a similar setup last year, except that instead of a van, a vehicle was painted to look like a police car.

The owner, who chose not to be identified, said he does up his property at Halloween for his kids.

Randy Hammond, a superintendent at the St. John's Regional Fire Department, said his office has now flagged the address to the people who work at the city's 911 centre.

Hammond said people who plan elaborate Halloween decorations should contact authorities to let them know about it in advance to avoid a similar emergency response.

I'ts too bad a Halloween decorations cause such a stir, but it good to hear that someone tried to do something about what they thought was an emergency. Far too many times people hide behind 'blind eyes' to real emergencies these days.

No harm, no foul!

I heard on the radio this morning that in California an elderly man passed away on his balcony, slumped over in a chair. He went unreported for 3 days as neighbors thought it was a well constructed Halloween decoration. I feel sorry for the family of this man. However I can honestly say myself that I probably never would have called the police either. Sorry I don't have a link to an article to make my post creditable.

This van is not damaged much, the fence isn't overly destroyed. Looking at the photo, it's not really what I envision as a Halloween decoration, but is more what I can envision of a person passing out and crashing into a fence. Lesson learned, I guess I be sure to make everything look less real. Make sure zombies look like zombies, or just use skeletons.

I just hope this guy never has a real emergency during the month of October since they say they will "flag" his address now!

Truthfully though, "car accident" doesn't say Halloween to me. I think he needs to rethink his decor and go a little more obvious...