Christmas tree safety?

[chf jstano]

An article in my local newspaper caused me some concern this am.In New York,live trees are banned from public buildings(schools, stores,city halls,etc). This fact said R. Norris,executive director of the Christmas Tree Farmers Association,conveys the message that live trees are a fire hazzard. If school children weren't being told that live trees were a fire hazzard,Christmas tree sales would be 50% larger.They are being taught that, and the sad part of it is the people who are regulators don't know any better."
To say the least,I am appalled at this attitude.The Dept of State is currently overhauling the fire and building code and the article states that growers are lobbying to overturn the current regulations. I don't know who this guy thinks lobbyed to get the regulations in the first place.(firefighters who have witnessed the devastation of holiday fires caused by neglected evergreens maybe?)
I ,for one, will be contacting my local and state fighters association and state legislators to see this doesn't get changed.
I also plan to cut out and copy the article that appeared on the next page of the paper and send it to Mr. Norris.May be he'd like to consider the opinion of the FDNY firefighters who had to recover a 6 and 2 year old from a fire caused by what he calls "difficult to ignite" Christmas trees.
What are your thoughts out there gang? I don't have a problem with live trees in the home, that is obviously a personal choice.How ever, we must educate people of the potential for danger and hope they follow through with that information. STAY SAFE and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

[hfd12316]

My company sells trees as a fundraiser. We have for the last 3 years. Every tree gets a fresh cut and the buyer is told to keep water in the stand. People sometimes don't realize how much water a tree will soak up in the first day or so. Every time I go into a friend's home at this time of year I check the tree if it is a fresh cut one. Most people are conscious of the water until Christmas day. After the excitement of the presents fades is when I find the most problems with dry trees. And while I don't feel that we as the seller are responsible for the tree once we tie it to your car I'm sure that there are some trees that we have sold this year that are neglected. And if we did have a fire at a home where one of our trees was the cause, would it be our responsibility? I may not sleep real good for a while but I would not feel responsible. It would be a great world if we didn't have to protect people from them selves. And I wouldn't have to get up at 3 am when its 5 degrees out.