State to review tree recycling

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer

Incidents of discarded Christmas trees being set on fire at collection sites and the potential danger to surrounding homes has state officials rethinking O'ahu's recycling program.

This home at 788 Mokapu Blvd. in Kailua was gutted by a Christmas tree fire Sunday night, leaving a family of four homeless. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Tom Miguel, a Mililani resident, said there have been at least four fires at the Mililani 16-acre park collection site across the street from his home since the state announced its tree-recycling locations about two weeks ago.

"Last night the fire trucks woke me up at 1 o'clock and again at 2:30 a.m.," Miguel said yesterday. "I think chopping up the trees is a great idea, but it's just not working."

The state Department of Health is set to collect the holiday trees Saturday at 11 locations on O'ahu, but early drop-off at the pickup sites is increasing costs and the scope of the work and has neighbors complaining about the potential for fire. The problem is a perennial one, officials said, but Miguel believes that recent gusting winds and the later-than-usual pickup date have aggravated the problem.

The city removes the trees that are dropped off during the week, but on the weekend they begin to mount again, he said, estimating that the pile of trees in the Mililani park's parking lot yesterday morning was 12 feet high.

Mililani Fire Capt. Mike Jewett said the first fire yesterday took about 30 minutes to extinguish and the second fire took an hour. Although the trees burn quickly, the danger comes from the flying sparks, Jewett said, adding that he thought there were more such fires this year.

Capt. Richard Soo, Fire Department spokesman, said the fire hazard from trees should not be underestimated. Sunday night a Christmas tree that was accidentally ignited when a match was lit nearby caused a fire that destroyed a home at 788 Mokapu Blvd. in Kailua. Damages were estimated at $300,000 to the structure and $50,000 to the contents. The fire left a family of four homeless.

Tree combustion is instantaneous, Soo said, and can send missilelike sparks of intense heat flying through the air to land on the roofs of adjoining properties.

Soo said he is aware of two other fires in piled-up Christmas trees Sunday night, in McCully and Moanalua. The trees, he said, are "real accidents waiting to happen."

Soo suggested that people store their trees as far away from their homes as possible before they are discarded. Trees also can be taken to city convenience centers islandwide or left for the curbside green-waste pickup. To learn more about these services, check the O'ahu telephone book, Page 34 under Environmental Services.

Lane Otsu, with the state Christmas tree recycling program, said the city has been diligent in keeping drop-off sites in parks cleared. At other locations Otsu has had to hire tree-chipping companies to remove the debris.

On Friday a chipper was at Kailua Intermediate School where there was an estimated 250 trees, but the work couldn't be completed and the crew was on the job Saturday and again yesterday.

There's room for improvement in the program, said Otsu.

He noted that this year's pickup date — at least a week later than in other recent years — had to be pushed back because of the Jan. 4 special election. Some of the schools slated to be used as collection sites were used as polling places, and having a chipper operating there would have been too disruptive, he said.

Next year, more education about what is available, possibly signs and cooperation from the public, would be helpful, he said.

"It's definitely something we have to sit down and think about and talk about before the next round," Otsu said.

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