Rhode Island red-faced after killing official tree

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 Statehouse workers dried it with commercial fans and sprayed it with a fire-retardant chemical. The workers were following a stringent fire code enacted after a nightclub blaze in the state 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 Dec. 6, Coffey said, but that was too late for the Statehouse tree, put up Nov. 25.

A team of tree farmers rushed Thursday to get a replacement tree, but the task proved complicated because the law also requires a fire marshal to be on hand when a tree destined for public display is cut down, to ensure freshness.

"This one will not be sprayed," promised Steve Kass, a spokesman for the governor.