- Ahead of the holiday season, The Scott Fire Department would like to remind those putting up a tree this year to stay vigilant.
- U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 160 home structure fires per year that began with the ignition of Christmas trees in 2016-2020. These fires caused an annual average of 2 civilian deaths, 11 civilian injuries, and $12 million in direct property damage.
"It's nation wide it's a big part of it honestly people quit watering it and taking care of it and forget about it," states one Christmas tree salesman.
For over 34 years Scott Fire Chief Chad Sonnier has seen when the holiday tree became a risk.
"We've had a couple occasions where a Christmas tree has started a fire and couple of times it was electrical short or overload or the tree was at the end of the year and it was drying it out and the residents weren't watering it like they should have," Sonnier says.
He tells KATC there is steps neighbors can take to have a safe holiday season.
"The thing to do is make sure to use the correct extension cord, if you are going to use it inside of the home and no scarring of the wires or make sure it's not overloaded."
Jordon Buck has been selling trees for 9 years. He stresses the importance of making sure the electrics around the tree are good to go but also the inside of the tree.
"The biggest thing is getting it in and giving it a fresh cut and putting it right in water," Buck said. "I think people wait to two three hours and the sap seals itself and it doesn't take water and also don't let it go dry."
