Burning your Christmas Tree? Florida Forest Service offers these tips.
Christmas trees can start fires if you don't don't take the proper precautions.
Christmas is over and that leaves one thing: putting up the holiday decorations. While most can be placed back into a box and stored until next year, real Christmas trees require a little more effort.
Dry limbs and needles from discarded Christmas trees can be an ignition source for fire if not properly cleared away from homes and natural areas.
One way to avoid this potential fire hazard is by recycling Christmas trees. Most utility services offer customers free curb pick-up with their regular waste collection provided the trees or portions of trees are no more than six feet in length and that all lights, ornaments and tinsel are removed. Check with your provider for more details.
Some residents may choose to burn their Christmas trees. The Florida Forest Service offers the following tips for safe outdoor burning:
- Check local ordinances for county burn bans and requirements for outdoor burning.
- Burn only if significant rainfall has occurred in the last three or four days.
- Never burn on dry or windy days.
- Select a burn location that is at least 25 feet from natural areas, 25 feet from your home, 150 feet from other occupied buildings and 50 feet from any paved, public roadway.
- Remove all decorations from the tree before you burn.
- Cut the tree into manageable sections.
- Clear the burn area free of other flammable materials such as leaf litter and pine straw.
- Keep a shovel and water hose handy in case the fire starts to escape containment.
- Never leave a fire unattended, and make sure it's out before leaving.
- Never burn a Christmas tree in a fireplace or wood stove.