--- title: Researchers Show Fire Risk of Christmas Trees in Simulation description: A simulation has shown how quickly a fire from a Christmas tree can spread, highlighting the dangers that the holiday decoration can risk. canonical: https://time.com/4588781/christmas-tree-fire-warning/ author: Suyin Haynes article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-02T16:26:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:08.533Z og:title: Researchers Show Fire Risk of Christmas Trees in Simulation og:description: A simulation has shown how quickly a fire from a Christmas tree can spread, highlighting the dangers that the holiday decoration can risk. og:url: https://time.com/4588781/christmas-tree-fire-warning/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt522519be02995a16/698875d20b72e384726e7516/baby-elf-on-the-shelf.jpg?branch=production&width=508&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 508 og:image:height: 286 og:image:alt: 548554371 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Researchers Show Fire Risk of Christmas Trees in Simulation twitter:description: A simulation has shown how quickly a fire from a Christmas tree can spread, highlighting the dangers that the holiday decoration can risk. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt522519be02995a16/698875d20b72e384726e7516/baby-elf-on-the-shelf.jpg?branch=production&width=508&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is How Quickly a Christmas Tree Fire Can Turn Into a Blazing Inferno > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=316076c0-d334-49ee-b22c-9f6fe674c931&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Dec 2, 2016 4:26 PM UTC  Researchers have shown the potential risks of Christmas trees. (file photo) Researchers have shown the potential risks of Christmas trees. (file photo) RUSS ROHDE/Getty Images/Cultura RF by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Dec 2, 2016 4:26 PM UTC A new simulation might make you think twice about piling another set of lights onto your Christmas tree, showing how quickly the holiday decoration can turn your house into an inferno. Researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts [set up a mock living room](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfrAbtyr1%5Fg) complete with carpet, sofa and curtains, and recorded how quickly a fire on the tree could spread. The video shows a cloud of smoke build up within a few seconds, with most of the tree being consumed by the fire 20 seconds after the simulation started. After one minute, the room becomes completely engulfed in flames in what is termed a ‘flashover’. Raymond Ranellone, the Institute’s Fire Lab Director, said “What makes these trees so dangerous is that it is a significant fire load that we are adding into our houses, and then we’re not properly caring for them.” Ranellone and the Institute’s researchers hope that the video will promote safety over the festive season, and will encourage people to not overload their Christmas trees with electrical appliances. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4588781/christmas-tree-fire-warning/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4588781/christmas-tree-fire-warning/"},"headline":"This Is How Quickly a Christmas Tree Fire Can Turn Into a Blazing Inferno","datePublished":"2016-12-02T16:26:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:08.533Z","description":"It's a lot faster than you might think","url":"https://time.com/4588781/christmas-tree-fire-warning/","keywords":["Newsfeed","christmas"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt522519be02995a16/698875d20b72e384726e7516/baby-elf-on-the-shelf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Suyin Haynes","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt522519be02995a16/698875d20b72e384726e7516/baby-elf-on-the-shelf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"548554371","caption":"Close up of christmas tree in sitting room","creditText":"RUSS ROHDE/Getty Images/Cultura RF","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4588781/christmas-tree-fire-warning/","name":"This Is How Quickly a Christmas Tree Fire Can Turn Into a Blazing Inferno"}}]}] ```