The State Fire Marshal’s office is reminding Floridians to get old and dry Christmas Trees out of their homes in a timely manner this week.
At this point, many Christmas trees have been up for more than a month, and they are completely dead.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, Christmas tree fires cause tens of millions of dollars’ worth of property damage annually, while causing several deaths.
Casia Sinco from the Florida State Fire Marshal’s office said anyone heading out of town for New Year’s should throw away the Christmas tree before they leave.
“Once you take the tree down, you want to make sure that you are not storing it in the garage, you’re not storing it on the side of your house, right beside your house, where if anything happens and it catches fire, it could ignite the house,” said Sinco.
Sinco added that many communities across the state offer Christmas tree recycling and disposal programs.
Here are links to local county collection and recycling plans (individual cities may have their own procedures):
Christmas tree fires are among the deadliest types of household fires, as the trees are usually located near the main entrance to a home, making it more difficult to escape, if they ignite.
