Real Christmas trees defended by grower Nov. 19, 2008 To the Antigo Journal:
After reading the newspaper article, "Yuletime sparks flying early this year" I felt compelled to write to the Journal in defense of the Real Christmas tree.
According to a informational press release from National Christmas Tree Association dated Nov. 13 more than 30 million homes in the U.S. will decorate with a farm-grown Christmas tree. It's also a time when consumers will read or see the "Christmas tree fire story" and be scared out of buying a real tree. Many people believe" Christmas tree fires happen all the time." The truth is it's extremely rare for a cut Christmas tree to be accidentally ignited in a home fire. Between 1980 and 2005, the number of home fires where a Christmas tree was the first item ignited declined 75 percent.
The growers and retailers of farm-grown trees have been working with fire safety officials, scientists and testing labs for years to provide scientifically proven steps on how to properly display a harvested tree to ensure high moisture content. These tips can be found at the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) Web site at www.realchristmastrees.org.
Often consumers are told that, "Christmas trees can cause a fire in a manner of seconds. This is highly erroneous and unethical. A National Fire Protection Association published report on Christmas Tree Fires shows just the opposite.
First of all, if you look at NFPA data, you see that a confirmed average of 111 fires per year between 2002 and 2005 in the U.S. were ones in which a cut tree was the first item ignited in a residential fire. During the same period of the report, an average of 28 million cut Christmas trees was displayed. Divide 111 by 28 million. You get .0000039, or .00004 percent.
Secondly, a cut Christmas tree has never in history caused a fire. Sparks, flames, heat or chemicals cause fires.
Finally, another interesting item in the NFPA report is that fire officials state clearly artificial trees also catch on fire every year. Currently, no testing lab or standards exist for those products to meet in order to print the words "flame retardant" on their packaging. They're really just words on a box. Fake trees catch on fire every year. According to the NFPA report, 28 percent of confirmed residential fires where a Christmas tree was the first item ignited involved a fake tree. But consumers are seldom told this.
I personally want to challenge the concept that real trees in indoor assemblies are a fire danger to the public. An experiment could be held at a local fire department to see which tree (real or fake) is really more flammable and which tree produces the most toxic fumes. This will also show a properly maintained tree is not a fire danger. I will supply the real tree that will have been up in my home over Christmas (with lights on the tree) for approximately three weeks. This could be an opportunity to create a fundraiser for the fire department and educate the public on how to maintain a real tree in their home for Christmas.
In the state of Wisconsin 1.8 million real trees are harvested every year for Christmas. Think of the income generated by this industry. What happen to the idea of going green?
Candace Gress
Polar
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