Prevent Christmas tree fires this holiday season

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Many things can be a fire hazard during the holiday season, but one some may forget about is that Christmas tree.

Brian Clingenpeel with Roanoke County Fire and Rescue tells us the dangers live cut Christmas trees can pose during the holiday season.

”We have a program that we do this time of the year on Christmas tree tags. So, it’s a little tag that has safety reminders on it and we try to distribute them to anybody who has live cut Christmas trees in Roanoke county… because that can be a big danger to have in your house. If you’re going to have one you have to water it every day. You have to be committed to watering it every single day to make sure it stays green and doesn’t dry out. Once that tree dries out and the needles start to drop off the tree it becomes a big fire risk. Also, we never want to use any lights on that live cut tree that are frayed, are old, have exposed wire. Also the lights don’t need to be on while you’re not there.”

Copyright 2022 WDBJ. All rights reserved.