I have six really tall (maybe 50 ft) Italian cypress trees in my backyard. When I planted them about 15-16 years ago they were about 2-3 ft tall. I had no idea at the time that they would grow so tall so quickly. When they reached the top of my neighbor’s fence, I should have cut them back. But I didn’t.

Tonight on the local news they were interviewing someone who had a home in the mobile home park in Sylmar that burned over the weekend. He was talking about the Italian cypress trees that were planted all over the park and how they were an extreme fire hazard. They are a very dry evergreen and just a spark or two will cause them to go up like a torch.

I am going to contract with my gardener to cut down my Italian cypress trees. As close as I live to the mountains, I don’t think it’s a good idea to propagate fire torches in my backyard.