Fire-safety treatments left Rhode Island's official Christmas tree, an 18-foot Colorado blue spruce, spindly, brown, and, yes, dead. It was yanked from the Statehouse on Wednesday. photo: Butch Adams
[Manufacturer's info and about Intumescent Systems below]
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Fire-safety treatments left Rhode Island's official Christmas tree, an 18-foot Colorado blue spruce, spindly, brown, and, yes, dead. It was yanked from the Statehouse on Wednesday. photo: Butch Adams |
PROVIDENCE — Remember Charlie Brown’s forlorn Christmas tree from the TV special — needleless, droopy and withered?
Now imagine it 18 feet tall and standing in the Rotunda of the Statehouse.
That, alas, is the condition of the official state Christmas tree.
Green and twinkling with white lights when it was lighted with great fanfare by Governor and Mrs. Carcieri just a few weeks ago, it is now brown and dry. It was stripped of its decorations on Wednesday with days to go before Christmas and lost the last of its needles in the process.
Yes, Santa is going to have to find another place to leave the presents, and lumps of coal, for those who have been bad and good at the Statehouse this year.
The tannenbaum, according to the governor’s office, was a victim of the state’s new fire code, which requires trees displayed in public buildings to be sprayed with a fire retardant.
With last month’s inclement weather, the tree was wet when it was cut down on the day before Thanksgiving at Big John Leyden’s Christmas Tree Farm in West Greenwich and donated to the state. So it was taken to the Department of Transportation garage to be dried with big heat blowers.
It has to be dry before the fire retardant — a liquid chemical called No-Burn — can be applied.
Between the dry heat and the chemical bath, the massive Colorado Blue Spruce didn’t stand a chance, even though it was faithfully watered by the Statehouse maintenance staff.
"I’m as disappointed as anyone," Carcieri said when asked about the tree on Wednesday. "Last year it went quickly too, but not as quickly as this.
"My understanding is that we’ve gotten a variance for next year from the fire code that we don’t have to spray it," the governor said. "And we’ll look at if we should possibly put up an artificial tree next year. I like a natural tree, but you can’t have a situation where you put it up and all the needles are falling down because we’re spraying it."
source: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15799104&BRD=1713&PAG=461&dept_id=24491&rfi=6 23dec2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It's a Charlie Brown Christmas for Rhode Island's official Christmas tree.
The 18-foot Colorado blue spruce lost its needles and died after workers at the State House dried it with fans and sprayed it with a fire-retardant chemical. The workers were following the stringent new fire code enacted after a nightclub blaze in Rhode Island nearly three years ago killed 100 people.
The pathetic-looking tree was hustled out of the building Wednesday night. Gov. Donald Carcieri sheepishly explained the tree's demise and suggested the state might get an artificial replacement next year.
"With the new fire code, we're supposed to spray it," he told WPRO-AM. "And apparently the spray killed it."
Rhode Island law designates Christmas trees as "flammable vegetation" and regulates their display in public buildings. Until recently, Christmas trees in public buildings had to be doused with fire retardant, said Tom Coffey, executive director of the Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal and Review.
The state lifted that requirement on Dec. 6, Coffey said, but that was too late for the State House tree, which was put up Nov. 25.
Lawmakers overhauled the fire code after the February 2003 blaze at a West Warwick nightclub. At first the code banned Christmas trees in public buildings, but tree farmers fought this year to have that section removed in exchange for safeguards that include posting the tree's watering schedule nearby.
Al Bettencourt, executive director of Rhode Island's Farm Bureau, and a team of farmers rushed Thursday to get a replacement tree.
"This one will not be sprayed," promised Steve Kass, a spokesman for the governor.
source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0512230324dec23,1,5432717,print.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true 23dec2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It's a Charlie Brown Christmas for Rhode Island's official Christmas tree.
The 18-foot Colorado blue spruce died after Statehouse workers sprayed it with a fire-retardant chemical. The workers were following the stringent new fire code enacted after a nightclub fire in Rhode Island nearly three years ago killed 100 people.
The pathetic-looking tree was hustled out of the building Wednesday night, and Gov. Donald Carcieri sheepishly said of the tree's demise: "With the new fire code, we're supposed to spray it, and apparently the spray killed it."
source: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1128768886480&path=!nationworld&s=1037645509161 23dec2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Capitol faced Christmas without a Christmas tree until Big John came to the rescue with a last-minute gift.
The 25-foot blue spruce looked great at the Nov. 29 official lighting, but by the time Christmas rolled around, it had fallen victim to overheating, flame retardant spray and falling needles, and had to be removed.
"At first, it was just dropping a few needles, but by the time they took all the ornaments off and then shook it, there weren't many left," Michael Maynard, the governor's spokesman, told the Providence Journal.
The tree fell victim to the state's tough, new fire laws, enacted after the deadly Station nightclub fire. The law required that the tree be sprayed with fire retardant. Capitol workers then used hot-air dryers to dry the retardant —— drying out the tree at the same time.
Maynard said the governor's office was ready to leave the rotunda treeless for the rest of this year. But, now a new, slightly smaller tree is up and decorated, a gift from Big John Leyden's Tree Farm, which had also given the first one.
"We really wanted to see a live Rhode Island-grown tree in the State House," Tim Leyden, Big John's son, said.
source: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20051223-102132-2819r 23dec2005
No-Burn is an tumescent fire reactant that swells up and creates a charred cocoon which protects the substrate in which the fire reactant is applied too.
NO-BURN CHRISTMAS TREE FIRE GARD
NO-BURN CHRISTMAS TREE FIRE GARD is specially formulated to help prevent accidental fires on fresh cut Christmas trees, garland roping, wreathes and other wooden holiday decorations.
Trim 1 to 2 inches off bottom of tree trunk for better absorption. Place tree on a stable surface, make sure tree is free of ice, snow and debris. Shake the NO-BURN CHRISTMAS TREE FIRE GARD bottle for at least 30 seconds with the nozzle closed. Adjust spray nozzle to a fine spray. Hold spray bottle at least 6 to 10 inches from tree surface, spray until all surfaces of tree are covered with fire retardant. Allow to dry 2 to 4 hours before decorating. Tree is fully protected when it takes on a light, frosty appearance when dry.
source: http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/no-burn_christmas_tree_fire_guard.html?gid= 23dec2005
Intumescent systems swell and char on exposure to fire to form a carbonaceous foam and consist of several components. These components include a char-producing compound (polyhydric alcohol, carbohydrates, or epoxy resins), a blowing agent, a Lewis-acid dehydrating agent, and other optional components,
In the intumescent systems, the char-producing compound, such as polyol, will normally burn to produce CO2 and water vapor and leave flammable tars as residues. However, the compound can esterify when it reacts with certain inorganic acids, usually phosphoric acid. The acid acts as a dehydrating agent and leads to increased amounts of char and reduced volatiles. Such char is produced at a lower temperature than the charring temperature of the wood substrate. Blowing agents decompose at characteristic temperatures and release gases that expand the char. Common blowing agents are dicyandiamide, melamine, urea, and guanidine (39, 40); they are selected on the basis of their decomposition temperature. Many blowing agents also act as the dehydrating agent. Other materials such as binders are added to the formulation to improve the toughness of the carbon foam.
Ingredients used in intumescent systems usually fulfill more than one function, Most compounds release some gas on heating, therefore they can be considered to be blowing agents. Many compounds produce some char.
References
39 - Kay, M.; Price, A.F. J. Fire Retard. Chem. 1979, 6, 69-91.
40 - Hindersinn, Raymond R.; Witschard, Gilbert "Flame Retardancy of Polymeric Materials"; Kuryla, William C.: Papa, Anthony J., Ed.: Marcel Dekker, Inc.; New York, 1978; Vol. 4., 1-107.
source: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1984/levan84a.pdf 23dec2005
Polyol definition
1. n. [Drilling Fluids] ID: 2218
A generic name for low molecular weight, water-soluble polymers and oligomers containing a large number of hydroxyl groups. Specific examples include glycols, polyglycols and polyglycerols. Polyols are used in water-base fluids as shale inhibitors and gas hydrate inhibitors.
source: http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Display.cfm?Term=polyol 23dec2005
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Polyol
Definition: An alcohol having many hydroxyl radicals including polyethers, glycols, polyesters and castor oil. Polyol, also known as POLYHYDRIC ALCOHOL, is used as a reactant.
source: http://composite.about.com/library/glossary/p/bldef-p4136.htm 23dec2005
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Polyol
An organic molecule with three or more alcohol groups attached.
source: http://www.petrochemistry.net/petrochemistry/polyol.html 23dec2005
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