Dear Santa, Is My Christmas Tree a Fire Trap?

Christmas Tree Maintenance No-Nos

Chevy Chase fires up 25,000 Christmas lights in Christmas Vacation

Before we get into the things you shouldn’t be doing with your Christmas tree, there’s one distinction we need to make. It’s actually one I’m loath to make because I have a soft spot for natural pine trees, but …

Live Christmas trees are more prone to fires — three times more likely, in fact, per The New York Times.2 And they’re 20 times more likely to cause some kind of bodily injury if an accident does happen.

Does that mean it’s time to trade your Douglas fir in for a shiny Upside Down Christmas Tree by Wayfair? Not at all. But you should take special care when you deck it out this year.

Now for that list of yule tree no-nos!

The Upside Down Christmas Tree available on Wayfair from The Holiday Aisle

1. Don’t Put Your Christmas Tree Too Close to the Radiator

Sometimes living room real estate is scarce. Or you might like the aesthetic of a tree pushed flush up against the wall. We all have our own ideas of the ideal Christmas layout. But dry needles, pine resin, and high heat care not for our yuletide design choices. So don’t put your tree next to the radiator (or any other heat source). Under the right (wrong) conditions, it might start a bonfire next to your couch.

2. Don’t Use Damaged Christmas Lights (in Any Shape or Form)

We’ve all been there. A charging cable starts fraying but we hang on to it until it’s literally hanging on by a thread because it’s just too much of a pain to replace. Not a good idea, folks. But when a tree in your house (real or artificial) is involved, it’s worse. Sparks can jump from worn-down or exposed electrical cords, and that’s all it takes to set your tree ablaze. When it comes to lights, you don’t necessarily have to toss a perfectly good set away because of one weak link. Just make sure that if you replace a dead bulb, it’s the same wattage as the rest.

3. Don’t Clark Griswold Your Tree

Remember Clark Griswold’s setup in “Christmas Vacation”? It included 25,000 bulbs with 20-odd extension cords. (See above for a refresher.) Did you happen to see that big zap of juice that nearly took off Griswold’s head? You don’t want to inflict that kind of wattage on your tree. You’ll be just fine plugging three 100-bulb strings into a single outlet. That’ll only eat up about one of the 15 or 20 amps the average household circuit can safely handle. That’s if you’re using old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. LEDs will use up to 90 percent less energy.

4. Don’t Cover Extension Cords With Carpets

It’s the same reason you don’t carpet your toaster or coffee maker. You never know what’s going through an electrical appliance’s mind. Ninety-nine percent of the time our gadgets behave just fine. But even a perfectly good extension cord generates heat. That heat can build up, sometimes to the point of combustion. If you’re really intent on hiding your cord, consider a baseboard cable clip, which gives you the best of both worlds: tidiness and visibility.

5. Don’t Let Your Christmas Tree Go Dry (If You’ve Got a Live One)

There’s nothing as pathetic as a once-proud and bountiful pine going all droopy and brown. (It’s just not right, people!) But there’s another reason you’ll want to keep your Christmas tree as hydrated as possible. If there’s an accident — your kids nudge it a little too close to the radiator or a stray ember shoots out of the fireplace — a dried-out tree will be easy fodder for a fire. Read on for a tip on how to keep your live tree moist and pliant until New Year’s.

6. Don’t Leave the Christmas Lights on When You’re Asleep

We’re all proud of our Christmas trees, bubble lights, Elvis ornaments, macaroni sculptures, and all. It may be tempting to put them on full display 24/7, especially if your tree graces the living room window. Don’t risk it. According to the NFPA, 31 percent of Christmas tree fires are the work of electrical malfunctions. If your Christmas wiring goes haywire when you’re in bed, you might not smell the smoke until it’s too late.

7. Don’t Put Candles on Your Christmas Tree

I’m sure most of you probably get this: You’re not Charles Ingalls and this isn’t “Little House on the Prairie.” And yet, according to the NFPA, candles started eight percent of the Xmas tree fires between 2010 and 2014.3  Whether those were candles on trees or candles next to trees isn’t clear. Let’s just say, to keep absolutely safe, we want candles nowhere in the vicinity of your tree.

8. Don’t Burn Your Tree in the Fireplace When You’re Done with It

Your yule tree isn’t a yule log. Evergreens like pines and firs are saturated with turpentine oil, a natural accelerant. If that oil builds up in your chimney in the form of creosote, you’re at risk of a chimney fire, which can burn down your house. Six percent of Xmas tree fires start in chimneys, which is more than enough reason to never heat your home with your Santa wood.

Christmas Tree Safety Checklist

Now we know what to avoid for a fire-free Christmas. What should you be doing? Here’s a quick checklist.

• Check your lights before you hang them (look for damage like bite marks from mice, fraying, or busted or loose bulbs).
• Get rid of any bulbs or cords that look damaged.
• Only use UL-approved lights. You’ll find the certification on the package. (Underwriters Laboratories are one of the oldest certifiers of components and systems around. Their certification counts.)
• Place your tree at least three feet away from any heating source and keep your cords uncovered.
• If your live tree has been out of the ground for more than a day, cut your stump, so it can absorb water (a quarter-inch layer cut off the bottom will do). Water it every day.
• Turn off the lights at night.
• Make sure you have a smoke detector and (ideally) a sprinkler wherever you put your tree.
• Dispose of your live tree properly when it’s time to say goodbye (at the curb not in the fireplace).
• Have a safe and wonderful Christmas!

The Takeaway

Chances are, you’re not going to have a Christmas tree fire over the holidays, but the risk is always there if you don’t set up, maintain, and dismantle your tree safely.

Artificial trees, which the vast majority of Americans use, are actually safer, according to official stats, but that doesn’t mean you have to ditch your beloved pine. You’ll just need to take extra care while it’s in the house to make sure it gets a drink of water every day (and don’t forget to cut the stump first).