Discarded trees called 'a bonfire waiting to happen'

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KAILUA — A week before O'ahu's scheduled Christmas tree recycling day, hundreds of trees are already piling up at drop-off sites around the island, raising concerns about the potential for fire.

An estimated 250 discarded trees were piled up yesterday at Kailua Intermediate School.

"It's a bonfire waiting to happen," said Lori Watson, a Kailua resident who had to water down her father's home last holiday season when someone set discarded Christmas trees on fire at the school and sent sparks flying onto neighboring properties.

This year's pickup date — Jan. 11 — is the latest in recent years. In 2001, pickup was on Jan. 5, and in 2000 it was Dec. 30. That could be contributing to the early drop-offs, but it happens every year, according to Lane Otsu, a planner with the Solid Waste Program for the state Department of Health, which is responsible for the tree-recycling effort.

He, too, is concerned about the potential for fire, and has hired a shredder to go to some of the 12 tree recycling sites ahead of time.

A shredder was to go to Kailua Intermediate yesterday, but even if it did, he said, people typically dump trees until well after the pickup date.

"When we chip the trees, the very next day the trees start to pile up again," he said, noting that Kailua Intermediate is one of the most active sites this year, along with Kaiser High School and Mililani's 16-acre park.

The city Parks Department is helping out by monitoring the trees dropped at park sites and removing them when necessary, Otsu said.

If people can't wait to get rid of their trees, they should try other options such the city's curbside pickup, refuse convenience centers and Hawaiian Earth Products composting sites at Campbell Industrial Park and near Kapa'a Transfer Station in Kailua, he said.

Watson said there were twice as many trees at Kailua Intermediate yesterday as on New Year's Eve, when she noticed some teenagers jumping the fence and hauling off several trees. The next day she found one of the trees torched in the park, she said.

She said she happened to be visiting her 83-year-old father in 2001 when fire broke out on the school grounds across the street. She's worried about what could happen between now and Jan. 11, and is determined to find a solution to the problem. She suggested a trash bin where any potential fire would at least be contained.

"I'm on a mission," she said. "I'd hate to see the house I lived in all my life burn down from something that could be prevented."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.