(This article was taken from Great Lakes
Christmas Tree Journal)
"Extinguishing
the Christmas tree fire myth"
(Great Lakes Christmas Tree Journal Vol. 1
No. 1 Spring 2005)
Every holiday season, the Christmas tree
industry faces a barrage of "media events" where Christmas trees are lit
on fire. Images of dry trees being torched on the five o'clock
news (some demonstrations have been found using accelerants such as
gasoline) all in the name of "fire safety."
For years, the Christmas tree industry has
battled this sensationalized type of demonstration, and in November of
2004 the Michigan Christmas Tree Association had the opportunity to work
with the Farmington Hills Fire Department in metropolitan Detroit in
presenting a fair and accurate demonstration of how Christmas trees
react in a house fire.
Planned and coordinated by Denny Hughes and
Michael O'Brian of the Farmington Hills Fire Department, the
demonstration featured a structure with three rooms. Each room was
set as a home maybe during the holidays with carpet, upholstered chair,
artwork, gifts and a Christmas tree. The only variable was the
tree. In one room they placed a well-cared-for real tree.
The second room included a real tree that was dried and the final room
featured an artificial tree that was advertised as "flame retardant."
In the demonstration, the department set a
fire in the room. Typically the furniture caught on fire first,
and the flames then moved to the tree. Each of the rooms was
allowed to "burn" for an equal length of time before the fires were
extinguished.
The result was very telling.
The real tree that was dry burned fairly
vigorously. The artificial tree did resist the flames for an
amount of time, but when the room became hot enough, the entire tree was
engulfed in flames and projected significant heat and toxic smoke.
The well-cared-for real tree did receive some burn damage on the corner
of the tree next to the burning chair, however after the demonstration,
the majority of the tree was intact and looked much like it did before
the demonstration started.
The demonstration was held in conjunction
with a meeting of the Metropolitan Detroit Fire Inspectors Association,
where MCTA Executive Director, Marsha Gray had the opportunity to
address the inspectors and share the Christmas tree fire research and
data.
"I know that this demonstration made a real
impact because the fire fighters and inspectors were surprised with the
results" comments Gray. "We had the opportunity to discuss
misconceptions and actually show the resilience of a well-cared-for,
real Christmas tree."
Channel 4, the NBC affiliate in Detroit, WWJ
News Talk Radio 950 in Detroit, and at least four cable access stations,
also covered the demonstration. The Farmington Hills Fire
Department, in conjunction with the Farmington Hills cable access
developed a video that featured video footage of the demonstration along
with an interview of Marsha Gray by Michael O'Brien. The video
will be distributed to civic and school groups and was also run on the
cable station.
MCTA would like to extend a special thank
you to Lou Waldock of Waldock Christmas Tree Farm in Howell for
supplying the two real Christmas trees. Lou is a retired fire
fighter and was a tremendous resource for this demonstration.
Below are images from the demonstration:
