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Fire Safe Holidays Brochure
Engaging new brochures help make fire safety a holiday tradition. A web link expands learning with interactive online content!
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Christmas tree fires

 

NFPA Safety Tips

Christmas tree fire safety tips
Choose a tree with fresh, green needles that do not fall off when touched. Read all of NFPA's Christmas tree safety tips and download our free safety tip sheet.

Lorraine Carli AUDIO
Lorraine Carli, NFPA Vice President of Communications, talks about candle safety:
Why holiday safety is important
Christmas tree safety tips
How to keep electrical lights as safe as possible
Candle safety tips
Carefully decorating Christmas trees can help make your holidays safer.

Watch a Christmas tree fire
This NFPA / UL video demonstrates the flammability of a dry Christmas tree vs. a tree that has been watered regularly.

Facts & figures

  • Between 2006-2010, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 230 home fires that started with Christmas trees per year. These fires caused an average of 4 deaths, 21 injuries, and $17.3 million in direct property damage annually.
  • Christmas tree fires are not common, but when they occur, they are likely to be serious. On average, one of every 66 reported fires that began with a Christmas tree resulted in death.
  • A heat source too close to the Christmas tree started one of every five (18%) of these fires.
  • Nineteen percent of home Christmas tree structure fires were intentionally set. Nearly three-fourths (72%) of the intentionally set Christmas tree fires occurred in the 15 days after Christmas and may have been related to disposal.

Source: NFPA's "Home Christmas Tree and Holiday Light Fires" by John R. Hall, Jr., November 2012.

Also see: Fact sheet on Christmas trees and holiday lights (PDF, 51 KB) 

NFPA does not test, label or approve any products.
Updated: 12/12 


In this Section:
 
Christmas tree safety tips
Carefully decorating your Christmas tree can help make your holidays safer.
Provisions in NFPA 1: Fire Code
Read what the 2012 edition of NFPA 1 says about Christmas trees.
URL: http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=296&URL=Safety%20Information/For%20consumers/Holidays/Christmas%20tree%20fires&cookie_test=1