AMHERST – Halloween weekend can create significant activity for public safety personnel in Amherst, with numerous celebrations expected around town, but efforts are in place to make sure everyone stays safe.
The Amherst Fire Department will have all five ambulances in service Saturday.
“We’ll be busy because it’s a college town, and it’s Halloween weekend,” said Fire Chief Walter “Tim” Nelson.
Like previous years, the department was scheduled to be at Hampshire College for Hampshire Halloween on Friday night, along with an out-of-town ambulance crew.
Additional staffing will also be assigned both on Sunday and Halloween.
“We’re ramping up, it’s still fall, and I’m sure activity will spike a bit,” Nelson said.
UMass is again limiting each student who lives on campus to having a maximum of four guests in a dorm room, only two of which can be non-students, a rule that will remain in effect through noon Sunday.
The university is also expanding residence hall security desk hours, as was done during Homecoming Weekend.
These ideas come from best practices recommended in the Davis Report, completed by former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis following the 2014 pre-St. Patrick’s Day Blarney Blowout.
Although no concert is taking place on Halloween, as occurred in 2015 when the holiday fell on a Saturday, there should still be on-campus activities of interest to UMass students.
Saturday features a home football game against Wagner, beginning at noon, and a home hockey game against Boston College, starting at 7 p.m.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
