WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington’s Department of Public Works will begin collecting Christmas trees at curbside on Monday, January 4.
Residents should remove all decorations and plastic wrapping from their tree and place it curbside on their regular trash pickup day.
It is anticipated that the collection will take approximately two weeks. Pick-up may be delayed by weather and other work demands on the DPW.
In a press release sent earlier this week, Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan cautioned urged residents to properly dispose of their Christmas trees.
“A dried out Christmas tree will ignite quickly and spread a fire very fast,” stressed Coan.
Coan noted that, in the past few years, there have been numerous fires in the state involving Christmas trees that have lingered too long in homes.
He provided examples from Lunenburg and Walpole:
On January 9, 2012, at 9:11 a.m., the Lunenburg Fire Department was called to a smoking fire in a four-unit condominium. The smoking materials ignited the living room sofa. The dried out Christmas tree was located next to the couch. A single sprinkler head activated and controlled the fire. No one was injured at this fire and the dog was rescued. None of the tenants of this building were displaced. Smoke alarms were present and operated but no one was home at the time of the fire. Damages from this fire were estimated at $27,000.
On January 12, 2014, at 6:13 p.m., the Walpole Fire Department was called to a fire in a single-family home. The Christmas tree in the living room had ignited and one of the occupants had tried to push it out a nearby sliding door where it got stuck. The fire soon spread to the roof joists. Firefighters were able to quickly knock down the fire. Two residents were injured. Smoke alarms were present and alerted the occupants to the fire. The home did not have sprinklers and damages were estimated to be $50,000
Coan also warned that discarded Christmas trees can also provide an easy fuel for arsonists, providing recent examples from Somerville, Fitchburg, Waltham and Weymouth:
On January 3, 2015, at 2:52 a.m., the Somerville Fire Department responded to an outdoor Christmas tree fire on the side of the road. Someone lit the tree on fire.
On January 7, 2014, at 4:40 p.m., the Fitchburg Fire Department was called to an outdoor Christmas tree fire. Someone ignited the tree and then extinguished it when firefighters arrived to investigate.
Early in the morning of January 1, 2014, both the Waltham and Weymouth Fire Departments responded to outdoor Christmas tree fires. One was near a lake, the other in the woods.
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