Cobb County firefighters demonstrate dangers of neglected Christmas trees

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - The Cobb County Fire Department demonstrated on Tuesday how dangerous Christmas trees can be when they are not taken care of properly.

It took less than 30 seconds for a festive Christmas tree to erupt into a dangerous fireball. The once live tree was alive in a different way as flames consumed it.

Cobb County firefighters say the Christmas tree was not watered and that is the problem.

"Live trees are obviously one of the things that everybody likes at Christmas. We just say if you use them, use them responsibly and don't forget to water them," said Cobb County Fire Division Chief and Fire Marshal Nick Dawe.

To show the difference, firefighters set a well-watered tree on fire too. The hydrated tree catches fire, but eventually burns itself out all while the dry tree gets burnt to a crisp. 

"If your tree does not get the water it needs, it becomes an extremely flammable and combustible thing," Dawe said.

Cobb County firefighters say it is important to have working smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

They also lit a third tree on fire to show how sprinklers can get a fire under control quickly.

"It's just the easy individual little things you can do to help try to keep safe that hopefully, we can get that message across," Dawe said.

Fires like this are more common than you might think. The National Fire Protection Association says fire departments respond to about 160 fires like this each year.

Firefighters say, besides keeping it watered, you want to make sure you are on the lookout for electrical issues.

This time of year, trees are not the only concern. During chilly weeks like this, space heaters can also be dangerous if not used correctly.

"We see them everywhere, in commercial environments, in homes, apartment complexes, condos," Dawe said. "This time of year, they're probably all going to be coming out this week and next as the temperatures dip."