Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers - Article

Christmas Tree Fire Hazards

The holiday season is quickly approaching and, as such, many people have turned their thoughts to Christmas trees. Many families have made the switch to artificial trees due to allergy or safety reasons. Still many more get a new “live” tree each year. More than 33 million American homes use natural trees for their holiday festivities. While these trees are beautiful, they can be a significant hazard if they are not kept moist.

A tree needs to be kept watered, and not just for a fragrant indoor winter wonderland atmosphere. Christmas trees are responsible for 200 fires on an annual basis. These fires, on average, result in 6 deaths, 25 injuries, and more than $6 million in property damage. The cause of these fires is generally either a short in an electric stand of lights or open flames from candles, lighters, or matches. Well-watered trees, however, are not a problem. Dry, neglected trees are.

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) conducted tests on both dry and watered trees. Within three seconds of ignition, a dry Scotch pine will be completely ablaze. At five seconds, the fire has spread up the entire tree and black smoke with gasses streaks across the ceiling. The fire is fed by fresh air near the floor. The sofa, coffee table, and carpet are able to ignite before there is any flame contact. Within 40 seconds, “flashover” occurs. Flashover is when an entire room erupts into flames, oxygen is depleted, and dense toxic smoke engulfs the entire room.

This is not to say that a wet tree is completely safe. There might be something out there that could cause a wet tree to ignite. The point is that a wet tree is a much less threatening part of the holidays than a dry tree.

Contact a Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have been burned by faulty Christmas lights that have caused a fire, contact a Chicago personal injury lawyer of Friedman & Bonebrake at 312-466-8200 today.