First, you pick one from the ranks standing at attention in some parking lot or at some farm.

Then, after lugging it home on top of your car, you and the family decorate it with ornaments and trinkets — some with sentimental value — before slipping presents under it to be opened on Christmas Day by wide-eyed children.

Finally, after the New Year, you strip it of the baubles, bibelots, lights, and tinsel, and leave it by the curb to be collected with the rest of the trash.

In many homes, that’s the life cycle of the average Christmas tree.

But in some cities and towns merely throwing out trees doesn’t cut it. Instead of having their trees ignominiously carted away, people toss the trees into a massive pile — and then stand by and watch them burn.

At least three communities are gearing up for their annual “Christmas Tree Bonfire’’ events this month, primal gatherings where neighbors look on as their beloved holiday trees go up in roaring flames.

The town of Newbury will welcome in the New Year during its sixth annual “Old Newbury Bonfire’’ on Jan. 14, according to event details.

The bonfire, co-sponsored by Historic New England, Tendercrop Farm, and the Newbury Fire Department Protection Fire Company #2, commemorates the anniversary of when the town was first purchased in 1701.

Starting the three-story fire is easy. A man featured in a video from last year’s event in Newbury explained that all it takes are a few flares to get things going. Once one tree catches fire, he said, they all light up.

“Christmas trees are so dry,’’ he said.

The city of Salem will kick off its 14th annual Christmas tree bonfire on Jan. 6, at Dead Horse Beach. Public works crews will be collecting the trees that will fuel the fire a few days in advance, before piling them up in their bristly heap and setting them ablaze.

People can also bring their trees to the festivities on the day of the event, according to the city’s website. In years past, as many as 2,500 trees kept the fire crackling.

And in Marblehead, a similar ritual will be observed on the same night.

John McGinn, Marblehead’s town administrator, said the free event was on hiatus for almost a decade, but it was brought back last year after residents called for the tradition’s revival. McGinn said it’s not unlike the reason people enjoy cozying up by a fireplace.

“There’s a certain good feeling that comes from a fire,’’ he said.

Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.