Don’t Let Your Christmas Tree Go Up In Flames

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CARMEL, Ind. — If your Christmas tree catches on fire, it will only take seconds to for it be fully engulfed in flames. That’s unless you take the proper precautions, say Carmel firefighters.

Tim Griffin with the Carmel Fire Department told WISH-TV they recently conducted two tests of what would happen if a Christmas tree caught fire in your living room. One with a dry un-watered tree and another properly watered.

Tim Griffin with the Carmel Fire Department

Griffin said the dry tree went up in seconds, but the watered tree took longer to fully catch fire. He added that extra time could mean the difference in making sure the rest of your house doesn’t catch fire as well.

“Imagine in your home, curtains, carpet, couches, kids toys anything like that right away those things are going to catch fire,” Griffin said.

He encourages you to water your tree with at least a gallon of water a day for as long as you have it standing. He also said to pay attention to your Christmas lights and check for any frayed wiring.

“Throughout the holiday season, when it’s over, we take all our lights we hopefully roll them up and put them away, but we take them out just like anything they get tangled and you start pulling and trying to get them apart,” Griffin said. “You may not know that you’ve frayed some of those wires and with that happening those wires can cause some sparks.”

Finally, he said not to place any space heaters or candles near your tree.

On average, one of every 31 home Christmas tree fires results in a death, according to the International Association of Firefighters.

 

Image by TanteTati from Pixabay