
A toddler was taken to hospital after being burnt by a firework in County Tyrone on Halloween night.
It was one of numerous Halloween-related incidents that the emergency services responded to across Northern Ireland on Saturday night and into Sunday.
Fireworks were deliberately directed at fire crews in six separate incidents.
The injury to the toddler - a girl under two years old - happened outside a filling station on Main Street in Carrickmore at about 20:30 GMT.
Insp McDonagh of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the firework was thrown on the road by teenage boys and "partially exploded" before bouncing back and "exploding for a second time" beside the child, who was with her parents.
The girl sustained a burn to her forearm, which required hospital treatment.
"It's only by sheer luck that the consequences of this reckless act weren't even more serious," said Insp McDonagh.
"The irresponsibility of throwing fireworks near a petrol station is shocking."
Halloween celebrations took place in Northern Ireland over the weekend, with the biggest festival being held in Londonderry on Saturday evening.
Across Northern Ireland, the fire service responded to 89 incidents, many of which were Halloween-related with 23 of them involving bonfires, between 18:00 on Saturday and 01:00 on Sunday.
Fireworks were directed at fire crews in Drumquin in County Tyrone, Enniskillen in County Fermamagh and Kilkeel in County Down.
"No damage or injuries resulted and operational response for local communities was maintained throughout," said a Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson.
"We cannot emphasise enough how dangerous fireworks are as they can result in life changing injuries if used inappropriately.
"We acknowledge these incidents were isolated to a small minority of individuals, but this antisocial behaviour could have had devastating consequences."
'Perfect storm' in Dublin
In the Republic of Ireland, the Dublin Fire Brigade reported the highest number of Halloween calls in more than a decade.
Chief fire officer Greg O'Dwyer said that, as of midnight the service had received 558 calls, an increase from 320 calls last year.
O'Dwyer described it as a "very busy night" resulting from a "perfect storm" of dry weather and Halloween falling on a Saturday.