With just a few days left until the new year, Chapel Hill Deputy Fire Chief Matt Lawrence says the “Keep The Wreath” green program has been a success.

A single red bulb is on account of a house fire that occurred on Tinkerbell Road due to careless disposal of cigarettes.  Every holiday season, when the risk of fires increases, the Chapel Hill Fire Department displays a green-bulb wreath to serve as a safety reminder. In the event of a house fire, such as the one on Tinkerbell Road, one green bulb turns red.

The National Fire Prevention Association fire departments, throughout the country, annually respond to an average of 250 structure fires caused by Christmas trees. Nearly half of them are caused by electrical problems, and one in four resulted from a heat source that’s too close to the tree.

This year though, Lawrence says Chapel Hill has been lucky … so far.

The wreath also has blue bulbs to represents sprinkler systems that have put out fires, and is on display in front of Fire Station No.1, located at 403 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.