I have a 12 year old Bradford pear (about 25 feet tall) that has fire blight for the last three years. I had a local tree service that is considered in high regard treat the tree for two years, but this year (the third year) the blight is back again and even worst then before. Do you have any recommendations other than, one, cut out infected branches about 8 to 12 inches past their infection area and two, clean the cutting tools with a 10% bleach solution between each cut. Also, since the tree has lost about 25% of its branches, is it time to not even try any longer and just replace the tree?

Fire blight is very hard to manage as timing is critical to protect swelling buds, young green tissue being leaves or new twig growth. you should weigh the costs of all your treatments and any future treatments against removal and replacemet. Chances are the tree will continue to get worse and you will lose even more canopy. This is a bacterial disease and there are very few products available. Some newer antibiotic spays labeled for fire blight: Mycoshield, FireLine17 and Kasumin 2L. These are suggested when streptomycin is no long effective.