The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office and The Brentwood Fire and Rescue Department held a Christmas tree fire safety demonstration on Tuesday.
The demonstration took place at Brentwood’s Fire Station No. 4 and featured a live burn of a dry, live Christmas tree in a mock-living room to demonstrate the dangers of not properly maintaining a live Christmas tree.
Within 15 seconds of the fire sparking the tree was fully involved in fire and just 30 seconds into the demonstration the mock-room was completely filled with smoke, and by 50 seconds into the demonstration “flash-over” had occurred, meaning that anything that could burn was burning and would be considered a fatal threat to anyone inside of the room.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, fire departments respond to an average of 200 Christmas tree fires per year with one out of every 32 of those fires resulting in a death.
We are always highly aware of this type of fire this year, and as you saw it only takes seconds,” BFR Chief Brian Goss said. “It emphasizes the importance of working smoke alarms in your home, as that is your only chance in many cases to get out.”
Officials discussed the dangers of hanging or storing decorations next to heat sources, the need to properly water live Christmas trees, and other fire safety concerns such as house fires started by holiday lighting, candles and kitchen fires.
“On average over 71 percent of residential structure fires are caused by decorative lights and they often occur over the holiday season which falls between November and January,” BFR Fire Marshal Jeff Pender said.
State Fire Marshal and Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Carter Lawrence and TDCIC Assistant Commissioner for Fire Prevention Gary Farley also spoke about the "Get Alarmed, TN!” program which distributes fire alarms to residents, and the need for families to have a fire safety plan at home...
--per Matt Masters with Williamson Homepage