Don’t let your Christmas go up in smoke

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - There's a shortage of artificial Christmas trees with many stores running out of them and unsure of when they would get the trees back in. This has led many to buy a "real" Christmas tree. However, unlike the artificial tree, the real tree can dry out and become a fire hazard.

ServPro Monday morning showed just how dangerous a live tree dries out, as they safely demonstrated how a Christmas can go up in smoke and ruin the holiday for the family involved. The Idaho Falls Fire Department was there to put out the flames as they tell us what we can do to prevent this holiday tragedy.

Jared Lusk, in the sales and marketing department of Servpro, says we need to be sure that we "make sure and have a good fresh coat before you put it in the water."

He says that by doing it this way we will be able to make sure that we can have that tree in our home as long as we want it. But remember it will eventually dry out and then it will be time to take it out of the home.

Captain Aaron Nelson of the Idaho Falls Fire Department says we need to be careful with those baseboard heaters. He said to avoid having a fire in the home to be sure that we don't let clothes, blankets or other such items stay on the heater when we kick it on by handling it this way we can avoid fire.

Both Captain Nelson and Lusk said to make sure if a fire does start, you get out of the home as quickly as possible. Captain Nelson reminded us that, "when fires do start, people need to have escape routes, they need to have a good idea with their family of where to meet up after they all get out of the home."

By doing so Captain Nelson said everyone will be safe from further harm. Captain Nelson also reminded us in case we do have a fire this holiday season our local fire departments are here to help.

As long as we keep in mind these precautions in mind, we can avoid our dreams for this holiday becoming our worst nightmares.