FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The holiday season is upon us, and fire departments in Broward County want to warn families about the potentially hazardous materials they use to decorate their Christmas trees this year.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue held its annual Christmas tree fire safety demonstration Friday in Fort Lauderdale.
Crews used a natural Christmas tree to illustrate the burning behavior of a typical Christmas tree fire.
They also monitored the fire growth rate and burning behavior.
“What you don’t want to do is you never want to wrap the extension cord around anything in a circular motion, because what that will do is it will cause extensive heat and could be the source of an electrical fire later,” Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane said.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, Christmas tree fires are four times more deadly than the average house fire.
U.S. fire departments respond to an annual average of 200 house fires that are sparked by Christmas trees.