State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey is urging residents to promptly dispose of Christmas trees, which can be a fire hazard when they dry out after the holiday.
“A dried-out Christmas tree will ignite quickly and spread a fire very fast,” he warned in a press statement this week.
In the past few years, there have been several fires involving Christmas trees that lingered too long in homes, he said.
On Jan 9, 2012, the Lunenburg Fire Department was called to a fire in a 4-unit condominium. Smoking materials ignited the living room sofa and spread to the dried-out Christmas tree next to the couch, spreading the fire.
Ostroskey said, “Not everyone is lucky enough to live in a building with fire sprinklers like these folks were. So it’s important to take a few steps to protect your family.”
On Jan. 12, 2014, a Walpole Christmas tree in the living room had ignited and someone had tried to push it out a nearby sliding door, where it got stuck. The fire soon spread to the roof joists. Two residents were injured. The home did not have sprinklers, and damages were estimated to be $50,000.