Long Lake Fire Department bringing Halloween to driveways in exchange for AED donations

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many families and communities are discussing what Halloween will look like this year.

Will kids still dress up and go door-to-door trick-or-treating? Will people want to open those doors and pass out candy?

In Long Lake, they’re rethinking Halloween.

"We will bring the fire trucks out to you, we will bring the candy out to you and keep everybody socially distanced and still have the ability to enjoy Halloween and get dressed up and things like that," said Krista Berbig, with the Long Lake Fire Department Slow Burn Brigade.

Individuals, or neighborhoods, can sign up and have the fire department drop off Halloween candy to you in your driveway.

"We really just wanted to bring something to the community that’s a little bit different, bring some joy and bring us together," she added.

All of the candy is being donated by Gopher Ace, the local hardware store.

"We’ve got about 8,000 pieces of candy that we’re going to hand out to the fire department, maybe even more, so that’s a lot of candy," said co-owner Mike Kokesh.

In exhange for the candy and the visit, the fire department is asking for donations.

They’d like to purchase more AEDs for their fire trucks, lifesaving devices that can help with cardiac emergencies.

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"From a firefighter perspective, 50% of our deaths are all cardiac-related, so we’re trying to address that," said Long Lake Fire Chief James Van Eyll.

Chief Van Eyll said the events will be outside, socially distanced and safe as the candy will be sent down PVC pipe slides from the fire trucks right into open treat bags.

"We will pull up to the side where the kids are at and, hopefully, they can have their bag open and we will send it right down with gloves on, trying to be as safe as possible," he said.

There are a limited number of spots available, and they are filling up quickly.

You can find out how to sign up and donate to fire department causes here.

If other fire departments are interested in doing something similar, inquiries can be addressed by the Long Lake Fire Department.