Fungus in dying Elm?

I posted the following message in the Disease Forum and got no takers. Thought I'd try here:
In April of 2011, a tornado swept through our town and ripped a major section from our Elm tree. Most of it was still in tact and we had a nursery man/arborist come in to prune and aid it. This spring, however, the bark started falling revealing black diseased wood underneath. As it was overhanging our home, we decided to remove it.
Attached are pictures of what I'm assuming is an invasive fungus. The color was alarmingly red. The tree cutter had never seen anything like it. I am concerned for the health of the rest of our trees and shrubs. There are scattered wood chips looking like red and white confetti all over no matter how much cleaning up we do, and I'm sure spores are flying as I type. Can anyone advise me as to how dangerous this all is? Are we to invest in tanks of fungicide?
Two days later: The stumps have been in the sun for 2 days and the red faded as the moisture evaporated. They are now stained a vague brown. I have no idea if this is pertinent to the question of fungus, but I'm guessing it may be.

You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Check the location of where the interesting colors are, versus the more recently living wood of your tree.

The outer circumference of the tree is where all the life processes occur. The interior wood is no longer living, and really only serves a structural purpose. This is where you see those bright colors - caused by decay organisms, NOT pathogens.

There are not many of those kinds of pathogens that cross genera - but most will decompose deadwood. That's how trees end up with hollow interiors.

Do a little searching (on line, or in arboriculture books) and read up on some of these things. Neither of those images illustrate what you state you were worried about enough to cut down a mature tree.

Thank you so much. I shall do as you suggest.

BTW, we did not cut it down because of what you see in the photo. It was because as I described above--bark falling and black wood and growths underneath. The 20 foot branch overhanging the house was threatening. We did have a nursery man assess it. We live in an historic district where cutting down trees is a fine-able event unless it has been checked out and then approved by the Historic Commission. The red was revealed only after the assessment.

Hi Yellowbricks...A lot of plants that are not ordinarily reddish exhibit red coloring in their sytems when they are stressed. Maybe that's why you have all this red matter showing up.

Just to make sure, if it were my stump, I'd pour some vineger onto it, so that it soaks in well. In fact, I've saved a few infected plants with a mixture of this recipe, (it's my invention, from brousing 3 books, about things you can do with salt / vinegar/ or bicarbonate of soda). I planned it to be used as a soak:

Anti-Fungal Soak
1 gal of water, 1 1/2 Tabespoons of baking soda
1 Tablespoon of white vinegar.

It's saved a number of plants that were doing poorly due to fungus in the roots (some, thanks to fungus gnats, I'm sure). If you use it on other plants, be sure you watch them closely for a few days, as some may not be tough enough against the vinegar or backing soda. In that case, if they suddenly begin to droop, I'd take them from the pot, flush them with water, and replant them in a fresh pot and soil. (bleach the pot before re-use....50-50 with water and bleach. rinse well.)

One thing that was rescued was an ancient amaryilis bulb..about 5" in diameter. The bulb was deep red and with very unhappy leaves draped over the pot's sides. As I recall, I cut them shorter so they could stand upright again, but left them on the plant. Then I put the pot in a dish and flooded the top with the soak, catching the solution and allowing the plant to sit in it overnight. Next day, I drained it out again, watered it with fresh water, and was able to pull quite a bit of the reddest parts of the bulb-layers off. After a few days, I could take off more of the diseased parts. Then, looking pretty much clear of the disease on the outside, I continued to treat it as though it would be okay. A few few weeks later, the redness reappeared, and I re-treated it. That time, it stayed looking good, sent new healthy leaves up, and this spring it has had two blooms ! With that result, I think it's out of the woods.

Good luck with undesireable fungi !

Thank you, Madison! I'll get it started.

Just recalled another interesting factor...Guess "who" likes rotting elm wood ? Morrels ! It's their choice habitat ! And they come up through the soil, not directly on the dead, visible portions, but from the decaying roots further down, and out from the stump They showed up around (I think) 3 years....after my tree had died, and may not appear a 2nd season, but still, might. I doubt the soak would affect the possibilities, since that site is so far from the mushroom site. So.. good luck with that !