The name “fire blight” describes the most characteristic symptoms of this disease, a brown-toblack scorched appearance of twigs, flowers and foliage. The blossom blight phase is usually the first symptom observed in the spring. Blossoms and fruit spurs appear water-soaked, wilted, shriveled and finally turn brown to black. Shoot blight occurs when infections begin at the shoot tips and move rapidly down the shoots. Leaves turn brown (apple, crabapple) or black (pear). Limb and trunk blight occur when the infection moves downward from infected shoots or fruit spurs into larger branches or the trunk. Dark, slightly sunken cankers (dead areas) are formed. On susceptible varieties, these cankers can girdle and kill the entire branch or tree.