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Show Burning Yule Tree A Thrilling Sight, If It's Done Outdoors The traditional burning of the Christmas tree outdoors is a thrilling sight, but when accidentally acci-dentally ignited indoors it can be a flaming funeral pyre, the National Safety Council said. "Filled with natural pitch and resin, the Christmas tree is one of the most combustible objects known virtually impossible to extinguish by ordinary methods. "When the needles fall it must not be burned branch by branch in the fireplace, because a roaring roar-ing fire is difficult to control. It should be burned outdoors, in a fire-safe area. "The months of December and January' are the leading months for fire burns, and last year 93 fire deaths occurred during the Christmas holiday alone. The Christmas tree tradition is a wonderful part of the season the Council said, so keep it wonderful won-derful by obeserving these few precautions: 1. Buy a tree no bigger than you need. The larger the tree, the larger the fire hazard. 2. Wait to put it up until just before Christmas. Keep it in a cold place until then. 3. Saw off, diagonally, at least an inch of the trunk and place in a stand filled with water. 4. Place tree away from any source of heat such as TV sets, radiators, powerful lights, which speed up the drying process. 5. Use nonflammable decorations. decora-tions. Keep metallic - icicles or tinsel away from light sockets. Dangling into the socket, they can cause short circuits or flash fires. Do not overload circuits, or replace fuses with oversized ones. 6. Use electric lights only. Be sure they bear the Underwriter's Laboratories label. Check for frayed cords, faulty sockets, or loose connections. Provide the switch some distance from the tree to turn it on and off. Do not unplug lights underneath the tree. 7. Never use candles on the tree or around any cumbustible decorations. 8. Turn off tree lights before leaving the room or the house. 9. Don't operate electric toys, such as trains, beneath the tree. Arcs can ignite decorations or wrappings. 10. Use stool or ladder while trimming the tree. Let children decorate only lower branches. Do not smoke while trimming or dismantling. 11. Burn the tree in a fire-safe area outdoors. Some communities communi-ties have tree burning bonfires under supervision of the fire department. If your community does not, contact your fire department de-partment and seek its cooperation. coopera-tion. Youth organizations may collect the trees. |