Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree, how flammable are your branches? Very, it turns out.
And Pasco firefighters wanted to show people just how quickly a Christmas tree can combust—so for once—they started a fire.
Set up in their training facility was a couch, end table, and a Christmas tree—resembling a standard living room. And it didn’t take long for the tree to catch fire. Watch the video above to see.
“The problem is a lot of these trees get cut way early in the fall,” firefighter Ben Shearer said. “They've been cut already for a month or two or more.”
That means by the time they get to your home, they're already dry.
“Pine trees are full of sap and burn very hot, very quickly,” he said.
Pasco firefighters aren't against real Christmas trees--but they offer some advice to avoid a fire.