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Carefully decorating Christmas trees can help make your holidays safer. Note: These statistics are based on fires that started with Christmas trees and do not include fires starting with other products. A small fire that spreads to a Christmas tree can very quickly become large. Facts & figures Christmas trees were the items first ignited in an estimated average of 310 reported U.S home structure fires per year in 1999-2002. These fires caused an average of 14 civilian deaths, 40 civilian injuries, and $16.2 million in direct property damage per year. These statistics include both real and artificial trees. On average, one in every 22 reported home Christmas tree fires resulted in a death. More than four of every ten home Christmas tree fires are caused by an electrical problem or malfunction. One in four (24%) home Christmas tree fires resulted from a heat source placed too close to the tree. Seven percent were started by children playing with fire. When equipment was involved in the ignition of the fire, lamps, bulbs or lighting (18%), and cords or plugs (13%) were cited more often than any other type of equipment.