A Dry Christmas Tree Can Burn Like an Inferno

This Video Has No Narration... The Video Speaks for Itself

Keeping a cut Christmas tree hydrated while it's in your home insures is will look better, drop fewer needles and, most important of all, become less of a fire hazard. Interestingly, a freshly cut tree can often resist burning even when exposed to a direct flame. That same tree, however, kept inside a heated home for weeks and not given adequate water, can turn into a tinder box, the likes of which are hard to imagine. 

To illustrate this point, I asked one of my neighbors to give me his tree after he removed it from his home. He confessed he and his family had been lax about keeping the tree stand water reservoir filled. I sat the tree in my yard, well away from the house, laid some crumpled up newspaper at the base and ignited it with a butane lighter.

After twenty-five seconds, there was a scorching pillar of flame with temperatures approaching 1000 degrees. Although I’ve done a lot of fire safety work, the speed with which this happened shocked and amazed me. Remember, other than the newspaper, no accelerants of any kind were used.

The point of showing this video, which has no audio, is to emphasize the importance of these Christmas tree safety measures:
• Make sure the tree you buy is fresh, or cut your own.
• Before bringing it inside cut at least one inch off the bottom of the trunk
• Place the tree immediately in a tree stand with a generous water reservoir and pour in warm water.
• Keep the water reservoir adequately filled during the holiday season
• When the holidays are over, remove the tree as soon as possible

Have a joyous and safe Holiday Season.