Texas Fire Department Tells Citizens Not to Burn Christmas Trees

Every year, cities across Texas inform citizens on how to dispose of their Christmas trees. For those who decorate real trees, cities do not want you dumping trees in fields or on the side of the road. Instead, many Texas cities have drop-off locations for trees to make everything easy for everyone.

Apparently, one household in McKinney, Texas did not get the memo about where they could stick their tree.

According to the McKinney Fire Department, the fire department responded to a call of a structural fire on Saturday. The residents of the home were apparently attempting to dispose of their Christmas tree by burning it. Not by lighting it on fire in the backyard, which is also a bad idea, but by attempting to stick the Christmas tree into the fireplace of their home.

As you would imagine, the Christmas tree in the fireplace idea did not work and only led to damage to the area around the fireplace. According to NBCDFW, one person was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

If you were wondering about what to do with your tree in Lubbock if it's still up, then you're in luck. It's past time to use the roll-off located at different sites around Lubbock, but for the rest of January, residents can find the roll-off moved inside the gates at drop-off locations.

According to the City of Lubbock, the trees collected will be turned into mulch that you can use for free.

Once collected the City of Lubbock Solid Waste Service then grind the trees into coarse mulch. Year-round mulch is offered for free at our Southside Recycling site. As a tip, the mulch is in a pile therefore we recommend that individuals bring a box or bag and then a shovel or rake to collect it.
City of Lubbock Locations

SOUTHSIDE:1631 84th Street (South just off 82nd and ave Q)
NORTHSIDE: 208 Municipal Drive (West of where Buddy Holly turns into Municipal Dr. at I27 at ext 4.)
SOUTH MILWAUKEE: 7308 Milwaukee Avenue (West side of Milwaukee after the light on 73rd just before the shopping center)
NORTH QUAKER: 4307 Adrian Street (Clovis Highway just North of Quaker)

Check out other great holiday recycling tips on the City of Lubbock's website.