Firefighters responded to about 160 home fires started by Christmas trees

Firefighters responded to about 160 home fires started by Christmas trees

by Home Decoration

ILLINOIS (WEHT) – According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), more than two of every five home decoration fires occur due to decorations being placed too close to a heat source. More than one-third of home decoration fires are started by candles.

The NFPA reports U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 160 home fires that started with Christmas trees per year between 2016-2020, and an estimated average of 790 home structure fires per year that began with decorations, excluding Christmas trees.

Officials say more than half of home decoration fires in December are started by candles. The top three days for home candle fires are Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and New Year’s Eve.

“Decorations add joy and extra flair to our homes during the holiday season, but they can also increase our risk for an accidental fire,” said Acting Illinois State Fire Marshal Dale Simpson. “Following a few simple fire safety tips can help to reduce that risk and allow you and your family to enjoy the holiday season.”

Officials give the following tips to reduce the risk for fires:

  • Be careful with holiday decorations. Make sure decorations are either flame retardant or flame resistant.
  • Keep lit candles at least 12 inches away from decorations or anything that can catch fire.
  • Keep children and pets away from lit candles.
  • Extinguish all lit candles before going to bed or leaving the house.
  • Check to make sure your lights are rated for indoor or outdoor use, or both.
  • Replace any light strands that have worn or broken cords. Make sure to read the recommendation for number of light strings you can string together.
  • Turn off all light strings and decorations before leaving home or going to bed.
  • If you have a real Christmas tree, make sure to check water levels daily! It is not unusual for a tree to drink two gallons of water the first day it is in the stand.
  • Keep real Christmas trees away from a heat source. It can dry out the tree quickly.

Officials advise before firing the oven back up, make sure to clean it. In case of an oven fire, turn off the oven and keep the door closed until it is cool. Clean cook tops as left-over grease can catch fire.

A press release says if anyone is planning to host anyone during the holidays, make sure they are aware of the fire escape plan. Show them where all the exits are in the home and make sure they are aware of a meeting spot location in case of fire.

Battling buckthorn trees is a manageable feat

Battling buckthorn trees is a manageable feat

by Home And Garden

I just moved into a new dwelling and have to have to get rid of buckthorn trees that appear to have gotten a foothold in my new yard. What is a fantastic approach to deal with this pesky weed?

— Jessica Alvarez, Highwood

Typical buckthorn grows as a shrub or small tree that can access extra than 20 toes in height with a trunk of 10 inches or additional in diameter. You possibly have a selection of plant dimensions to address. This invasive tree is a significant problem that can be observed in a lot of home gardens in the Chicago region. Buckthorn tends to keep environmentally friendly leaves late in the fall right after the leaves of other trees have turned colour or fallen, so is quick to spot at this time of yr. Exotic buckthorns are invasive and are inclined to kind dense thickets that group out other trees, shrubs and perennials. A lot of fruits tumble under the vegetation, which results in a dense understory of seedlings. The trees make lots of fruit that birds try to eat, as a result spreading seeds significantly from the mother or father plant. Frequent buckthorns desire gentle shade and are tolerant of quite a few soil circumstances, so they mature nicely in residence gardens. Buckthorn was released to North The usa as an ornamental shrub and was chosen simply because of its hardiness and means to prosper in a range of soil and light-weight disorders.

The best management evaluate to use is dependent on how massive the buckthorns are and any adjacent crops that would be weakened by the removal. Smaller plants can be dug up or pulled out. It is less complicated to pull out seedlings if the floor is moist. A sharp, flat shovel operates very well to dig out buckthorn. Buckthorn with trunks that are 3 inches in diameter or far more will be much more tricky to dig out. You will want an ax to cut via much larger roots as you dig the stumps out. Digging out large buckthorn may not be possible if there are fascinating trees or shrubs near by or if you have a good deal of crops to eliminate. You may uncover buckthorn escalating in the crowns of shrubs, so glimpse intently as you weed in the back garden.

This invasive tree is a serious problem that can be found in many home gardens in the Chicago area.

This invasive tree is a critical dilemma that can be found in lots of house gardens in the Chicago region. (RJ Carlson/Chicago Botanic Back garden)

Buckthorn readily resprouts when lower back at floor degree at any time of yr, so this is not a permanent alternative except you can keep on to cut back new sprouts for a couple years. The minimize stumps should be dealt with with an herbicide straight away after slicing (preferred) or up to two hrs later. Use a triclopyr herbicide (Garlon) or formulation of glyphosate (Roundup) or (Rodeo for wetland parts) to deal with the stumps. Brush-B-Absent is a conveniently out there retail products that has triclopyr as an component. Treating stumps operates in freezing weather if the right procedures and herbicide (an oil-primarily based formulation) are applied. Be positive to adhere to label directions when applying any herbicide. This is a superior time of yr to cut your buckthorns down and take care of the stumps with an herbicide. If you want not to use an herbicide, cover the stump for one particular to two yrs with black plastic to avert the tree from resprouting. Native habitat administrators also use burning to assistance management buckthorn and other weedy species.

Seeds from buckthorn in the soil can go on to germinate for quite a few yrs, so keep an eye on your backyard and pull buckthorn seedlings as they show up in the coming many years. I have been pulling buckthorn seedlings out of my property backyard for the final 15 many years and anticipate this will be a recurring maintenance activity just about every calendar year, as there are buckthorns in adjacent yards.

For additional plant advice, get in touch with the Plant Info Service at the Chicago Botanic Backyard at plantinfo@chicagobotanic.org. Tim Johnson is senior director of horticulture at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

YARD AND GARDEN: Some real information about artificial Christmas Trees | Home & Garden

YARD AND GARDEN: Some real information about artificial Christmas Trees | Home & Garden

by Home And Garden

Master Gardener Darla Chouinard talks about the history of the Christmas tree.

Christmastime. It is one of the busiest times of the year! At our Youth Gardening home school workshops last week we read the book “Maple Syrup Season” by Ann Purmell and talked about maple syrup is in a plant part category of its own.

We often discuss the six plant parts we eat and it was interesting to make a whole new category, tree sap. We also made festive decorations from gourds and wooden ornament birdhouses that were generously donated to us. We painted the small gourds to look like snowmen. It’s always amazing to see the creativity the children bring to our activities.


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I have been enjoying people’s posts on social media of their special Christmas trees and decorations. They range from handed-down, hand-painted ceramic trees, tall trees, short trees, a fine selection of decorated cone-shaped artsy trees, real trees, and artificial trees.

I recently listened to a podcast by Moxie Labouche (Your Brain on Facts). She talked about the first company to manufacture artificial Christmas trees in the US. I really hadn’t given it much thought before, so I researched it.

I found out that the first artificial trees were made in Germany around 1880 because Christmas trees had become so popular that deforestation was a real problem. They were constructed from goose feathers that had been dyed green, split, then wired together to form branches. The wires were attached to dowels that were used as the trunk and base. These trees weren’t particularly sturdy and couldn’t hold many ornaments.


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In 1930 the Addis Brush Company from the United States created a tree that used bristles that were dyed green to create leaves on the branches. This company was the first to manufacture toilet bowl brushes. Can you picture it now? These popular trees could hold more ornaments and decorations than feather trees.

I remember as a kid, my grandparents had a silver aluminum tree. My grandparents acquired that tree as a hand-me-down and used it throughout the 70’s and into the 80’s. It was sparsely decorated using plain blue glass ball ornaments. They used a lighted motorized color wheel in front of it to make the colors change on the tree. The color wheel was popular because it was dangerous to hang strings of lights on wires conducting electricity on the aluminum branches. You could be in for quite the shock!

Aluminum trees were manufactured in Chicago and were popular in 1958. Last year they trended as a vintage retro look that people were flocking to. Many were in search of antique trees as well as new vintage reproduction trees. Amazon carries them in rose gold, iridescent, silver-glitter pine, and electroplated. They run anywhere from $44.00 to $469.00 and one comes complete with a color wheel.

In the 1980s PVC trees became popular and were fairly realistic. I remember you had to be careful putting the branches into the wooden dowel so that you didn’t break it. We added guy wires from branch to branch to hold up the lower heavy branches that had ruined the dowel holes.

Now you can buy a pretty decent sturdy pre-lit tree that ranges in price from $104 on average to over $1,000. They are made from fire-retardant PVC. Some of the benefits of artificial trees are that they cause fewer allergies and asthma, they don’t shed lots of dead needles, they don’t need to be watered, and you can leave them decorated as long as you wish.

They do have a few drawbacks. For example, sections of the pre-lit lights will eventually go out, then what? Troubleshoot your tree or get a new one? Most people average 7-10 years of reusing their artificial tree. Approximately 67 percent of households use an artificial tree and 80 percent of the artificial trees are made in China.

Real trees take 7 to 10 seasons to grow an average tree. They must be pruned yearly so they maintain that festive shape. Real Christmas trees growing on United States tree farms account for 350 million trees and are grown on 350,00 acres. The top leading states that grow Christmas trees in the U.S. are North Carolina and Oregon.

The first retail tree lot was started in New York in 1851 by a man named Mark Carr. They were also available in Chicago from 1887-1933 when a fishing schooner called the “Christmas Ship” docked at the Clark Street Bridge and sold spruce trees from Michigan.

It is good to shop for locally grown trees as it helps out the local economy, they are grown as a crop specifically to be used during the holidays. Not only do they hold the soil in place, they also take in carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases and release fresh oxygen into the air.

We have a fresh tree in the main part of the house because we really like the scent it gives off, and they are reasonably priced and it’s pretty. But we have also used the same bare-bones, unlit, $20 tree for about 15 years in our Christmas party room. Whatever style you choose, make festive memories.

Holiday decorations and tabletop trees

Holiday decorations and tabletop trees

by Home Decoration
Holiday decorations and tabletop trees

Is the thought of putting up a giant Christmas tree daunting? Are there more tasks in the day than hours? Are you and the family traveling for the holidays after spending the last months distancing? If any of these are true, then the thought of a Christmas tree and whole-home decorations for whatever winter holiday celebration works for you might be more than you want to handle. I love Christmas trees and all sorts of holiday decorations, but oh, the work! 

It is a trend to reduce the size, kind and amount of decorating down for the holidays. There are many reasons to avoid a big fuss, including allergies, cats climbing trees, dogs chowing down on garland or candles, the mess of falling leaves or needles, and space issues due to downsizing homes.