Christmas Tree Shipments Herald Holidays, Fire Danger : Safety: The day after Thanksgiving is a busy one at lots preparing firs for sale. A firefighters official says bringing an evergreen home too early can make it prematurely brittle and very combustible.

The Trees-R-Us Christmas tree lot was alive with activity on Friday.

Only one day after Thanksgiving and fully four weeks before Christmas, eight well-muscled men spent much of the morning setting up Christmas trees decked with price tags. The scene was similar at an affiliated lot in Huntington Beach, where about 150 freshly cut trees arrived in refrigerated trucks from Salem, Ore. And over at Trees-R-Us in Costa Mesa, workers were busy measuring and pricing their stock.

“We’ve got it down to a science,” said John Knebes, owner of the Huntington Beach lot. “It’s a well-oiled machine.”

The only thing missing was the customers.

But their absence didn’t bother the enterprising tree sellers who, over the years, seem to have gradually advanced the advent of the Christmas tree merchandising season bit by bit despite the warnings of local firefighters.

“We’re expecting to have a good Christmas,” said Roger Schafer of Yorba Linda, a member of the board of directors of the California Christmas Tree Growers Assn. based in Merced. Most customers, he said, wait until the second or third weekend before Christmas to buy their trees.

Said Charles Peltzer, owner of Orange County’s seven Peltzer Pine Christmas Tree Farms where customers select trees while they’re still in the ground: “I’m happy to report that it looks like the California recession has slightly abated.”

In fact, Peltzer’s farms, which began selling on Nov. 19, were about the only Christmas tree outlets doing brisk business the day after Thanksgiving, mostly to customers who were reserving their trees for cutting later.

“This year we expect to be back to an all-time high,” Peltzer predicted.

Buying Christmas trees while they’re still in the ground assures freshness, Peltzer said.

County fire officials say taking a tree home too early can pose a serious fire hazard when the trees are not handled properly.

“There’s no question but that when you bring a Christmas tree into your house you increase the risk of fire,” said Dan Young, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Department. The county, he said, experiences an average of 12 serious Christmas tree-related fires each year. Last year, he said, there was at least one fatality.

“Buying a tree this early is more hazardous,” Young said, “because it will be at least a month before it is removed from the house” by which time it is likely to be drier and much more combustible. “When trees ignite,” he said, “they burn incredibly fast; in four or five seconds, a tree will be completely engulfed in flames and emitting enough heat to ignite combustibles across the room.”

Most growers, some of whom begin cutting their trees in early November, say that they continue cutting them until about Dec. 10 to ensure that the new arrivals on the lot are fresh. While transporting their trees, growers say, they often spray them to keep them moist.

Young said there are several ways for buyers to select relatively fresh trees and keep them that way for the duration of the Christmas season.

Choose a tree that is supple and is not yet losing its needles.

“If it’s already brittle,” Young said, “it will increase the potential for a tragedy in the home. Believe me, it’s not worth saving a few bucks.”

Always ask the dealer to cut about an inch off the bottom of the tree so it will drink water. Then place it in a stand that holds water, and water it every day.

Other tips on avoiding fires, he said, include:

* Keep the tree in a relatively low temperature away from fireplaces or other sources of heat.

* Don’t use lights designed for outside the house.

* Turn the tree lights off when you leave the house or go to bed.

Dennis Huddleston, general manager of the Loma Vista Nursery in Fullerton, also recommends adding a commercial preservative to the water. If you can’t find any, add two aspirin and a tablespoon of white Karo syrup.

“The idea is to keep the moisture flowing,” said Huddleston, adding that a properly tended tree can live for several weeks after cutting.

In any case, Young said, Christmas trees should be disposed of by Dec. 28.

“A Christmas tree can be a wonderful source of joy and atmosphere,” he said, “but you need to keep an eye on it. Just take reasonable steps to keep them from becoming hazards.”