Red tipped needles

There are some small evergreen trees at the top of the hill between the library and Amos Eaton.  I think they might be some sort of firs because the needles are flat.  They never seem to have any cones.  Now the tips are reddish brown.  Why could that be? An internet search suggests that they could be too dry.  It also mentioned afflictions called needle necrosis and needle cast, but neither of those seems to match up with what I'm seeing here.