ERIE, Colo. (KKTV) – A warning for anyone currently growing warm weather plants in Colorado in the dead of winter.
Over the weekend, firefighters in Erie responded to a house fire started in an avocado tree.
“When crews arrived on the scene they found that the warming apparatus surrounding an avocado tree had caught fire and spread to the siding of the home,” Mountain View Fire Rescue (MVFR) said. “Thankfully the quick thinking of the homeowners and neighbors helped limit the spread of the flames because they started dousing the fire with buckets of water.”
Thanks to those efforts, firefighters were able to stop the flames reaching the inside of the house.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, with the warming system and even Christmas lights both possible culprits.
But MVFR has a warning regardless.
“This is a reminder that warm weather flora is best to plant in a container gardening system that can be rolled into a garage when frigid temperatures move into an area.”
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