Christmas is over now it’s time to throw away the trees — or burn them?
Friday night was the 33rd annual Christmas Tree Burn in Solvang.
Hundreds of community members all threw their Christmas trees into a pile to be burned by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
It’s one of the largest fire safety demonstrations along the Central Coast as hundreds looked on in a tradition that brings the holiday to a close.
"Like 15 seconds!" Henry Sweeney and Mason Elliott said in unison.
That's how long they lasted up at the front of the crowd for the Christmas tree burning.
"It was sweating, super hot, and super fun," said Sweeney.
They, along with hundreds of other locals and tourists, gathered around a large pile of Christmas trees, excited to see it go up in flames.
Many even contributing trees themselves.
"We live just down the street, and it was just a way to get rid of our tree and make it easy," said Marco Gomez, a Santa Ynez resident. "As you can see we got a few accumulated already, and looking forward to the big burn."
The pile of trees was lit just before 6 p.m. but beforehand, fire officials demonstrated some fire safety tips for the crowd.
"We want to show the importance of fire safety in and around your home," said Cpt. Time Gailey with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
During the demonstration, each tree went up in flames in seconds.
"Make sure that you get the tree out of the house if it's still in the house before it gets too dry," said Gailey.
Event organizers anticipated around 1,500 people to attend the event.
"Well, it wraps up our Yule Fest celebration, and then obviously we want to show people how to be safe with their Christmas tree," said Jenny McClurg, the Solvang Parks and Recreation director.
Cpt. Gailey says that if you don't have a tree-burning ceremony like this near you, there are other alternatives to getting rid of your Christmas tree.
"We encourage families to just use the green waste bin," said Gailey. "Or if they have the ability to mulch the tree, they can also use a mulcher and use that as ground cover."
