The U.S. Fire Administration partnered with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Building and Fire Research Laboratory to illustrate on video the dramatic affects of fire when it ignites a maintained (wet) cut Christmas tree and a dry tree.
Maintained (Wet) Tree: Ignition occurs at 0 seconds; fire at ignition point on tree continues to burn but does not spread at 30 seconds; fire at ignition point on tree continues to burn but does not spread at 1 minute; fire at ignition point on tree did not spread, flames self-extinguish, and tree (trunk, branches, and needles) is fully intact at 1 minute and 30 seconds (end of video).
Dry Tree: Ignition occurs at 0 seconds; other tree branches become involved at 5 seconds; most of the tree is burning at 15 seconds; tree is fully engulfed in flames at 30 seconds; only the tree trunk and portions of some of the larger branches are intact after all the needles have burned away at 1 minute and 30 seconds (end of video).
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DOWNLOADS: Christmas Tree Fire Flash Video 5.2 MB || Christmas Tree Fire h.264 8.5 MB || Christmas Tree Fire Ogg Video 5.9 MB|| animated gif, 21 frames 240.5 KB
This movie is part of the collection: Community Video
Producer: FEMA
Audio/Visual: silent
Keywords: Christmas Tree; fire
Creative Commons license: Public Domain Mark 1.0