Bright orange flames lit up the night sky at the Old Mission Santa Ines for the 32nd annual Christmas Tree Burn as Solvang's Julefest comes to an end.
The Solvang Parks and Recreation Department told KSBY News residents began pilling their unwanted Christmas trees on Christmas Day.
“Usually the pile starts on Christmas Day. People are dropping off their trees and then it just grows bigger every week,” said Jenny McClurg, Solvang Parks and Recreation director.
The Christmas Tree Burn is one of the largest fire safety demonstrations along the Central Coast that is overseen by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Demonstrations of how quickly a tree can burn within seconds were shown to the public before burning the pile of trees.
“We have three Christmas trees on display and before we start the burn we have a firefighter light the Christmas trees just to show the citizens how fast these Christmas trees can ignite,” said Andrew Wedel, Santa Barbara County Fire Department Station 30 fire captain.
Many were happy to see the traditional tree burn come back after being canceled last year due to rain.
“Feels good to come out and enjoy the tradition every year,” said Solvang resident Jayne Heil.
“I brought my Christmas tree and we threw it on a few days ago in anticipation of what’s going to happen tonight and it turned out great,” said Nicki Cabanting, a former Solvang resident.
“It’s definitely a tradition. The kids have a blast out here. It’s always good to get out and do something that’s fun,” said Solvang resident Elizabeth Ruiz.
The Christmas Tree Burn was filled with some participants who were experiencing this event for the very first time.
“I was like wow this is crazy because it’s so big,” said Santa Barbara resident Hugo Bonk.
“True! We were both like oh my god this is super simple and this is a huge bombfire. It’s amazing,” said Jodi Bonk, also a Santa Barbara resident.
Fire Captain Wedel told KSBY News the City of Solvang is expected to clean up any leftover debris from the Christmas Tree Burn within the next couple of days.
