dangers of a christmas tree

[infinitymike]

If you have never seen something like this it will blow you away.
A dry Christmas tree will is extremely dangerous.

This tree was about 5 weeks old and we constantly add water to it but it still doesn't matter.
I did not add any accelerants added to the tree.
It doesn't take much to get this thing going.

Please be careful and get them out of your house as soon as possible.
Also, I did this in a 55 gallon drum and on a slate patio.

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[firefighterjake]

A well watered Christmas tree is pretty hard to set on fire . . . but stop watering it for a few days and it will go up pretty quickly . . . as you have discovered.

 

[velvetfoot]

Growing up in the city, I recall some of the bigger kids lighting up thrown away Christmas tree in the street, betwwen parked cars, no less.

 

[infinitymike]

A well watered Christmas tree is pretty hard to set on fire . . . but stop watering it for a few days and it will go up pretty quickly . . . as you have discovered.

When I took it outside there was still water in the stand.
A live in the ground tree takes a little more to get it going but it will eventually become completely involved.

 

[velvetfoot]

Before electric lights, I do believe candles were used.

 

[infinitymike]

Before electric lights, I do believe candles were used.

True and there were a lot more house fires because of that.

 

[ScotO]

Great demo, Mike. It's incredible how much potential energy is trapped in those pine needles, isn't it? I used to burn my tree too, but now we take it to the recycling center where it becomes mulch for our town......

Back in the day, many people died from Christmas tree fires (as mentioned above they were decorated with candles), kinda amazing you don't see it more often nowadays.

As for the tree drying out, I don't care how much you water that tree, after several weeks of being cut off the stump, it will eventually stop taking water out of the stand (most likely due to the resin plugging the cut end of the tree).

Thanks for sharing!

 

[infinitymike]

Great demo, Mike. It's incredible how much potential energy is trapped in those pine needles, isn't it? I used to burn my tree too, but now we take it to the recycling center where it becomes mulch for our town......

Back in the day, many people died from Christmas tree fires (as mentioned above they were decorated with candles), kinda amazing you don't see it more often nowadays.

As for the tree drying out, I don't care how much you water that tree, after several weeks of being cut off the stump, it will eventually stop taking water out of the stand (most likely due to the resin plugging the cut end of the tree).

Thanks for sharing!

Not really allowed to burn them here on LI but hey who said I follow all the rules
There's a lot of stinkin rules on LI and NY for that matter.

Yeah it's real scary to see how little it takes to ignite it.
I have a still have a wreath and I will try to light with a sparking electric wire to show what can happen with broken or frayed tree lights.

 

[ScotO]

Not really allowed to burn them here on LI but hey who said I follow all the rules
There's a lot of stinkin rules on LI and NY for that matter.

Yeah it's real scary to see how little it takes to ignite it.
I have a still have a wreath and I will try to light with a sparking electric wire to show what can happen with broken or frayed tree lights.

just be careful not to shock yourself when doin it!

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Why don't I see a movie! All I see is a black hole

 

[velvetfoot]

Why don't I see a movie!

Me neither.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Mike, I agree the spruce trees do get super dry and that is why we stopped cutting them. The scotch pines make better trees and are not the danger that spruce is.

I believe firefighter Jake once tried to get one to light on fire and it would not burn!

 

[Hearth Mistress]

Not really allowed to burn them here on LI but hey who said I follow all the rules
There's a lot of stinkin rules on LI and NY for that matter.

Drag them down to NJ - they are using them to re-build the dunes on the beaches!

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news...Tree-Can-Help-Rebuild-NJ-Shore-185567352.html

 

[weatherguy]

Reminds me of that Chrismas movie with Chevy Chase

 

[firefighterjake]

When I took it outside there was still water in the stand.
A live in the ground tree takes a little more to get it going but it will eventually become completely involved.

This may be a dumb question . . . was the tree cut by you . . . or was it purchased on a lot?

Follow up question . . . before sticking it in the water was an inch or two cut off the butt?

I ask because twice now I've tried to light up a Christmas tree (balsam fir are the tree of choice here) and both times the tree caught for a second and then flared out.

 

[firefighterjake]

Before electric lights, I do believe candles were used.

Believe it or not . . . candle fires still start up a few fires during the holiday season . . . and some are in Christmas trees.

 

[infinitymike]

Why don't I see a movie! All I see is a black hole

Sorry Do you see one yet?

 

[infinitymike]

This may be a dumb question . . . was the tree cut by you . . . or was it purchased on a lot?
It was purchased at a tree lot. it is a fraiser fir

Follow up question . . . before sticking it in the water was an inch or two cut off the butt?
It was cut by them, but then I re-cut it at home because it was still 6" to tall

I ask because twice now I've tried to light up a Christmas tree (balsam fir are the tree of choice here) and both times the tree caught for a second and then flared out. I've done this several times and always had the same result.

 

[firefighterjake]

Interesting . . .

A couple of thoughts . . . and just thoughts . . .

Wondering if it may make a difference with it being a frasier fir.

Perhaps the fact that it was also cut at some point and then transported on a tree lot for a while may have had something to do with it . . . or maybe it was the species.

In any case, balsam or frasier . . . scotch or spruce . . . it's generally a good idea to keep any Christmas tree well watered and away from any heat source or open flame . . . until you get it out back on a patio.

 

[infinitymike]

Interesting . . .

A couple of thoughts . . . and just thoughts . . .

Wondering if it may make a difference with it being a frasier fir.

Perhaps the fact that it was also cut at some point and then transported on a tree lot for a while may have had something to do with it . . . or maybe it was the species.

In any case, balsam or frasier . . . scotch or spruce . . . it's generally a good idea to keep any Christmas tree well watered and away from any heat source or open flame . . . until you get it out back on a patio.

Agreed 100%

 

[Standingdead]

I once made the mistake of disassembling a 48" wreath and stuffing the branches in my boiler with a thin bed of coals. I barely got my hands out before it sort of exploded in flame! Within seconds the flue stack was shutting down due to the heat. Took my heart a few beats to get back to normal...Not sure what I was thinking at the time but won't do that again.

 

[infinitymike]

I once made the mistake of disassembling a 48" wreath and stuffing the branches in my boiler with a thin bed of coals. I barely got my hands out before it sort of exploded in flame! Within seconds the flue stack was shutting down due to the heat. Took my heart a few beats to get back to normal...Not sure what I was thinking at the time but won't do that again.

OH thats why you live in the town of Burnt Hills LOL

 

[nsfd95]

We used to do this in the parking lot behind the firehouse until a neighbor called the cops on us. The officer just pulled up and just shook his head at us.

 

[Paulywalnut]

I once (when much younger) cut my christmas tree up in the family room and put it piece by piece
into my big old fisher stove. It was quite a fiery display that my little kids enjoyed. Much smarter
now in that regard anyway.

 

[ChrisNJ]

Last year I cut up our Frasier Fir and stuffed the branches into totes to burn in the furnace, they engulfed to such an extent I found it frightening and was happy when they were gone from the basement, would grab a handful of branches and try and stuff them in through the door and they would practically explode in a fireball while I tried to get the door closed in time :-O Garbage men took this years tree.