A dry Christmas tree will burn very quickly and will likely spread to other flammable items in your home. Don’t make your home one of the 210 that burn every holiday season because of a problem with the Christmas tree.
Here are tips we use for keeping our home safe around Christmas tree:
- The key to a fire is always prevention so select the freshest live tree you can find. Its needles should be green and hard to pull from the branches and needles shouldn’t break when you bend them between your fingers.
- Alway make a new cut before putting your tree on the Christmas stand. This will remove the sap scab the tree started forming when it was first cut which will allow the tree to soak up more water.
- If you have a swimming pool you can tie a rope to the tree and drop the tree into the pool overnight. This allows the entire tree to soak up water.
- Water your tree every day.
- Place the tree away from heat sources like the fireplace and heating vents.
- Don’t put the tree up too early. If it dries out, it will ignite more easily.
- Resist the temptation to burn your tree in the fireplace after Christmas. Needles and branches can cause a flash fire that’s too intense for indoors.
- Replace tree lights often. Don’t use any that are cracked or whose wires are frayed. String no more than three standard-size sets of lights per extension cord.
- Turn off the holiday lights before you go to bed or leave the house.
- Never put lighted candles on a tree.
- Don’t allow light strings to suspend an open space where people or animals can get caught; which may lead to the tree tipping over.
- If you buy an artificial tree, choose one with a label that says it is fire-resistant. If you prefer a metal tree, do not use electric lights. Faulty lights can charge the tree with electricity and electrocute anyone who touches it.
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