Mulch FireMulch: Is It Truly Bark Mulch, A Landscaping Essential, Or Is It Something Else, A Potential Serious Fire Hazard?

Many people associate the arrival of spring with the familiar odor of mulch being laid down on properties across the Commonwealth and elsewhere. BUYER BEWARE!!! Mulch that is assumed to be bark mulch is actually waste wood products, deceptively marketed as bark mulch. Some of you may remember excelsior as the slender, curved wood shavings used before Styrofoam for packing fragile items. Most of us will recall the movie “A Christmas Story” that features a crate with that special lamp buried in excelsior.