Christmas Tree Burning Demonstrations Shed Light on Holiday Safety Practices

The Department of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) held its annual Christmas Tree Fire Safety Demonstration on Thursday, December 12, in an effort to raise awareness of this seasonal fire risk with the potential for the deadliest of outcomes.

At the Koffel Associates Fire Standards Laboratory, Isaac Leventon, a research scientist with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and an FPE adjunct lecturer, conducted a series of live fire experiments demonstrating the burning behavior of well-hydrated Douglas-Fir trees in comparison to unhealthy, dried out ones. Each year, Leventon seeks to educate the public about the hundreds of fire incidents that repeatedly result in structural losses and civilian casualties.

“Although these aren’t the most common fire events, national reporting statistics show that Christmas tree fires represent an outsized risk both in terms of life safety and property damages. Our message is not, ‘do not have a tree this season,’ rather, we hope to raise awareness of the potential fire risk that a dry, natural Christmas tree can pose and share tips to keeping yours healthy, well-watered, and safely away from the most commonly reported ignition sources of these tree fires (electrical failure/malfunction and local heat sources),” said Leventon.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), between 2016-2020, United States fire departments responded to an estimated average of 160 home structure fires per year that began with the ignition of Christmas trees. These accidents resulted in an annual average of two civilian deaths, about 11 injuries, and approximately $12 million in damages.

While Christmas Tree fires are not the most frequent fire events, they are particularly hazardous. A 2017 NFPA report found that home structure fires that started with the ignition of a Christmas tree are 4.5 times more deadly than those caused by the burning of any other item. This underscores the importance of maintaining safety practices in place when decorating your home for the holiday season.

The tests demonstrated the impact of moisture content on ignitability, fire growth rate, and peak fire size, otherwise known as Heat Release Rate (HRR), emphasizing how these accidents can be prevented by following the safety measures recommended by the NFPA.

A subsequent round of experiments on December 19 will engage fire safety scholars, students, and engineers in a competition to predict the burning behavior of the trees. This year marks the competition’s 11th anniversary; last year’s event drew over 200 participants from across 25 nations and US 11 states.

To bring together members of the fire safety science community, Leventon leads the competition and develops a scoring system that helps contextualize model predictions in comparison to experimental uncertainty. Contestants were able to “build” and submit their own fire predictions by visiting the NIST Christmas Tree HRR page and adjusting three parameters that define: peak fire size, fire growth rate, and total heat released.

IN THE NEWS