Christmas Tree: Fire Hazard
If you still have your Christmas tree up, local firefighters say it’s probably a good idea to get it out of the house.
“If you’re not hydrating your Christmas tree, and generally that’s the time of year that people don’t put water into the Christmas Tree Base to keep it hydrated then that becomes a fire risk.”
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue Operations Chief Matt House says that tree is a big hazard.
“There’s a lot of youtube videos that are out there that shows how quick a non hydrated Christmas tree will go up in fire and it’s not just a matter of minutes; a matter of seconds on how quick that fire will expand.”
He says firefighters will be picking up natural, unflocked trees Friday for recycling.
“541-997-3212 and we’ll get your address, swing by pick up the tree and take it to storage area with the city and then they take care of it.”
There’s no cost for the service, but a voluntary donation for the associations scholarship fund is appreciated. House says if you miss this week’s pick up, they’ll do it again next Friday, January 6th.
Some Still Without Power
There were still 164 customers without power this morning as Central Lincoln PUD crews continue to identify disruptions in service due to the high winds that blew through Florence earlier in the week. Crews today will have to deal with more windy conditions as the National Weather Service predicts wind gusts up to 31 miles per hour and that wind will likely increase overnight with gusts up to 40 miles per hour before decreasing Friday morning. There are still some roads that have debris that could cause travel hazards and look for more loosened materials to be an issue with today’s winds.
Boil Water Notice: Mapleton
The Mapleton area is still under a boil water alert as the water district there tries to determine what is causing the pumps not to fill up the water tank that feeds the community. Vice Chair for the Mapleton Water District Millie Rochon says they are working to identify the problem whether it be a leak or some other issue. The temporary skid that was put in place is working, but the water it is pumping is not making it to the holding tank. She says it is important for people to boil what water does come out of the tap and to conserve as much as is possible.