Christmas Tree Fire Safety Tips
United States fire departments respond to an average of 230 Christmas tree-related fires each year. Christmas tree fires can be avoided by following some simple safety tips.
Christmas Tree Fire Safety Tips:
- When choosing your tree, look for a fresh tree with vibrant green needles that are hard to pull out. The tree shouldn’t be shedding needles. Don’t buy a dry tree – they’re more likely to catch fire.
- Consider an artificial tree. Look for the label “Fire Resistant.” The risk of a fire is three times greater with natural trees than artificial ones (National Fire Protection Association). However, even fire resistant Christmas trees are not completely fire-proof. You still need to be careful.
- Keep your Christmas tree at least three feet away from heat sources such as space heaters, heat vents, radiators, fireplaces, lights and candles.
- Check for lights with worn or broken cords or loose connections and remove any you find.
- Only use lights tested for safely by a recognized laboratory such as UL or ETL.
- Don’t connect more than three strands of incandescent lights together.
- Try to use decorations and ornaments that are non-flammable or flame-retardant.
- Turn off your Christmas tree lights before you leave home or go to sleep.
- Make sure you have a working smoke detector in the room with the Christmas tree.
- Live trees: Cut 1 or 2 inches from the bottom of the trunk before putting the tree in the stand and filling with water to help with water absorption.
- Live trees: Keep the tree base filled with water so it doesn’t dry out. Refill daily!
- Live trees: Discard your tree after the holidays or when it dries out.
- Don’t get rid of your tree by cutting it up to burn in your fireplace. Tree residues can adhere to the interior of your chimney, creating a fire hazard that persists year-round or until the chimney is cleaned.
Sources and Further Reading:
https://www.esfi.org/oh-christmas-tree-much-hazards-do-you-bring-thee/
https://www.christmastreeassociation.org/resource-hub/fire-safety-tips-for-your-christmas-tree
https://burncenters.com/community/choosingatree2021/
https://www.jbsa.mil/News/News/Article/2444002/know-how-to-celebrate-the-holiday-season-safely