The Exchange file photo
The city of Laurinburg will hold its annual Christmas tree burn at Legion Park on Jan. 7.
LAURINBURG — For those wondering what to do with their live Christmas trees after the holidays, the city of Laurinburg is collecting them for the annual Christmas Tree Bonfire.
Fire Chief Jordan McQueen was on WLNC’s Live on Main on Wednesday morning talking about everything from safety to the upcoming event.
“On Jan. 7, we’ll be doing our Christmas tree burn,” McQueen said. “The city will collect the trees the first week of January and on that Friday night, we’ll do the burn at Legion Park.
“We won’t provide marshmallows or anything like we’ve done in the past, you can bring your own, that’s fine, but it’s a noncontact type of deal,” he added, “if you want to get out of your car and stay with your family that’s fine.”
All residents have to do is put their trees to the curb between Jan. 3 and Jan. 7 for crews to pick up and take to the park.
The event is for the burning of live Christmas trees only — those wishing to discard artificial trees should put them out with their regular trash or on bulk-item pick-up day.
The event is an opportunity to dispose of live trees that can pose a significant fire hazard if allowed to dry out in living rooms. Due to the quickness of the flames, residents are encouraged to get there early, because it takes less than a minute for the evergreens to become completely engulfed.
Before the collection, though, McQueen stressed making sure the live trees remain cared for.
“We stress making sure your live Christmas trees are watered,” McQueen said. “A dry Christmas tree is terrible and very flammable so we stress Christmas trees being watered.”
Reach Katelin Gandee at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.