Princeton Professor Bradford Dies at 66

Yahoo! News | AP ^ | 2/22/05

[GovernmentShrinker]

Lit candles on a Christmas tree in February???

[Miss Marple]

I noticed that, too. Questions:

1. Why was the tree still up?

2. Why would he light the candles in February?

3. If he lit the candles, when the tree caught fire why didn't he run out of the house?

[Viking2002]

"Darwin! Paging Charles Darwin............!"

[Vaquero]

probably meant a string of bulbs shorted out....it is totaly rediculous to think someone would put an open flame on a seasoned conifer......bad enough to keep it in the house since christmas.

[Sabatier]

Every year our local fire department goes on the news to show how quickly dried out Christmas trees go up in flames. Whoosh! We buy live trees for Christmas and then plant them outside at the beginning of January. The oldest one we have is almost 20 feet high now.

[Conservatrix]

4. How can smart people be so DUMB?

[newgeezer]

probably meant a string of bulbs shorted out

I checked the source. It doesn't look foreign (e.g. British) to me, which was the only way I could see "candles" meaning "light bulbs."

....it is totaly rediculous to think someone would put an open flame on a seasoned conifer.

Much less a dead and likely thoroughly dried-up pine tree.

[cwiz24]

I found a blog that says he was burned while trying to carry the burning tree out of the house.

Tax Prof Blog

[newgeezer]

"Darwin! Paging Charles Darwin............!"

He was 66 and likely already passed his genes on to another generation. Keep an eye on those offspring, though. ;-)

[Miss Marple]

OK. But why was it still in the house and why did he light it? (And why didn't he simply pour some water on it?)

[Gaetano]

David Bradford was one of my professors. He was brilliant, kind, humble, and (drumroll please..............) a Republican.

The burning candle in tree thing does baffle me, especially in February.

[cwiz24]

There are plenty of people around my house with Xmas wreaths still up, so I guess it's not too much of a jump for someone to still have their tree up. The candle thing does baffle me though. What is this, 1842?

[ThirstyMan]

"...he was burned while trying to carry the burning tree out of the house."

Oh! that makes more sense...................NOT!!!

A prof with limited smarts? and that never happens

[ThirstyMan]

"...he was burned while trying to carry the burning tree out of the house."

Oh! that makes more sense...................NOT!!!

A prof with limited smarts? and that never happens

[newgeezer]

What is this, 1842?

If it were, I'd think the tree would have been chopped up and loaded into the wood burner long before Feb. 8.

[cwiz24]

Electricity--look into it.

For that matter, not trying to escort a flaming conifer out your front door--look into it.

Baffling

[GovernmentShrinker]

1) Laziness -- not too uncommon
2) That's the BIG question
3) I assume he was in another part of the house, when the fire broke out, and was trapped and had to run through the fire to escape.

[ccmay]

Christmas trees in our family come down on Epiphany (Twelfth Night.) We typically have my folks over for a drink and a packing-up party with the grandkids.

It's not just tradition, it's a good idea.

-ccm

[xm177e2]

which was caused by one of about 10 lit candles on a Christmas tree that had been in the house since December.

He died because of his own bad taste.