A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Do house plants present a fire hazard?

A new administrator at my college has instated a rule against tropical plants inside dorm rooms because they present a fire hazard. I would consider keeping house plants a hobby of mine and it has not been an issue in previous years.

I'm looking for information that would support the idea that well taken care of tropical plants don't present a fire hazard. Unfortunately google has not been very helpful.

If you know of any official sites that state that house plants do not present a fire hazard until they are neglected, please let me know. I would really like to continue my hobby uninhibited by some new [BLEEP] administrator.

Thanks.

WOW - I have not heard of this either, and am about to pack my daughter up for her sophomore year of college with lots of plants. They are mostly small ones, but I'd hate for her to have to give them up, as she is just getting into growing them after "living with green and plants in our house her entire life"!

May I ask what college this is, or if you'd rather not say, in which state?

ok - this was bothering me, so I am doing a search as well.

So far, I found this article:
http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/on-fire/




BUT... they are talking about forest fires, NOT fires in buildings for pete's sake!

And then there is this article about how growing plants indoors with high intensity lights caused a fire - but that was the lights that caused it!!!
http://newsblog.projo.com/2009/07/marijuana-culti.html

Still researching

The college is in western MD. My biggest problem is probably the fact that bedding, fake plants(which we're allowed to have), clothing, and aerosol products, among other things are much more flammable in my opinion than a well taken care of live plant.

Thanks so much for looking for me, I'd really hate to have to try to find homes off campus for my plants.

i am in the housing administration area of a college and i think that lynne is on the right track with the research. if you present your case that the research does not bear the weight of their "idea" and present your case to the head of the department with a carefully thought out reasoning, you may have a chance of overturning this new administrator's plan. i think it is mostly from ignorance (i agree with your ideas) and the idea that "natural" things are somehow bad.

that said, some of our policies are "iffy" because they were instituted before technology reached it's current point. AND because a lot of our buildings are historic, which limits what we can have safely.

Dumb thinking House plants cause fires.

They clean the air , and watering them would have more to do at stopping flames.

Providing the water is wet.LOL

I'm not sure if I'm no the right track, but I think the admin is probably thinking if you keep too many large plants (say a few large dracenas) they *may* prevent you from escaping in case of a fire.

But I have never heard of plants causing fires (very interesting article I must say!).

I'm trying to think of possible reasons that they might have heard of but have misunderstood.

Some plants may have high amounts of oils in them, especially fragrant plants. Fragrance is often an organic molecule and these can catch fire easily. BUT from my understanding, there is WAYYY more water in a plant compared to any possible oil. Think of it this way: olives and sunflower seeds have enough oil inside them for us to press out commercially, but you can't get them to burn with a spark.

Some plants like eucalyptus trees will set seed that needs to be burnt to germinate and need fire. True, but we're talking huge trees. And as much as they need fire to germinate (actually just the smoke), they can't cause a spontaneous fire.

Houseplants filter the air and absorb pollutants like benzene and can become highly flammable. Yes, houseplants do absorb air pollutants like benzene (NASA did tests) but they do not accumulate enough to pose as a fire hazard, nor do they make the plants extra flammable.

If and when you talk to the admin, I find things go easier (at least for me) when questions are asked instead of pointing fingers. "I was wondering, regarding your new houseplant policy, what type of fire hazard they pose?"

Hello! I have been a fulltime firefighter for 12 years in a city with a population of 250,000 people. I have seen some very interesting causes of fire but NEVER from houseplants! Sometimes, people do use the flower pots as incense holders and that could cause a problem. I spoke to our local fire prevention office, it is NOT a fire code nor concern in our state. Our office suggested that you request the local prevention office/school admin. to produce the code in writing. It may not be anything you can put your hands on, however, the school administration/fire department should be willing to print a copy of the code for you. The purpose of the code is to preserve life and property, so ascertaining that the community has an uncderstanding of the code should be paramount. Two concerns come to mind, the large plants that block the hallways or pathways to exits. Any commercial structure (especially that has a large number of occupants) HAS to keep exits and paths to exits clear of obstacles. If that's the case, I would think the code or rule would prohibit plants of a certain size or quantity??? The second concern would be the artificial plants. I believe most dorms have to reduce the amount of combustibles as much as possible, i.e. curtains are prohibited unless they are flame retardant. That may be the case with the artificial plants??? Please, let me know what you find out. If houseplants are a fire hazard, I need to know. LoL Good luck!!!

This is TOTALLY ridiculous. Plants a FIRE HAZARD??? There is more chance of food starting a fire and smoke from said food to set off fire alarms in dorms than plants. Tell the administrators (or YOU go ask them!) to ask the local fire department what the most found reason is for fire alarms in dorms is. IT'S FOOD.


I guess they don't think wood, linen, wallboard, cigarettes, paper, etc. are fireproof.......

I am somewhat of an official plant guy here...
Trust me...
If you water and keep your house plants healthy. they will never pose a fire threat.
They may even inhibit the spread of fire in your home

What an interesting concept, possibly a case of managers with too much time on their hands. I see the original post was from several years ago, and I'm curious if Ryan was ever able to reason with the administration. But there is one aspect that no one mentioned: some municipalities have regulations against the MULCH on top of plants in places like hospitals and nursing homes. I'm an interior landscaper, so I am aware of this. I'm guessing that the college administrator in question may have worked at such an institution, and not understanding the actual rule, thought it was the plants at fault. The plantscapers in charge of such accounts either remove all the mulch, or use a properly approved fire-retardant material. Plants themselves have never been labeled as fire hazards, to my knowledge. Interesting thing about some plants being adapted to fire...since almost all houseplants are native to jungle areas, I don't think that's a factor, either.