Iowa Department of Public Safety
215 East 7th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
www.dps.state.ia.us

Area Fire Agencies to Set Christmas Tree Ablaze!  Learn How to Properly Care for Natural Christmas Trees

Des Moines, IOWA --- Nothing brightens up your holiday home like a beautiful Iowa fir tree.  They just look and smell like Christmas!  But if you fail to properly care for you natural Christmas tree, your holiday could go up in flames.  This Monday, join the State Fire Marshal Division and Des Moines Metro fire chiefs to watch in real-time just how fast a poorly watered and poorly cared for Christmas tree will catch fire.

For the demonstration, two burn cells will each be outfitted with furniture and a Christmas trees.  The trees were harvested November 17, 2012 from the Walnut Ridge Tree Farm in Indianola, Iowa.  One tree has been watered daily; the other has not been watered at all.  Each tree will be ignited to demonstrate that when Christmas trees are properly taken care of, they can be very safe.  If they are not watered regularly however, they are quite flammable.  Gary Harman from the Walnut Ridge Tree Farm, along with State Fire Marshal Ray Reynolds will be present to answer any questions.

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