Ziggy’s Feels Burned By Fireplace Policy City Officials Ban Installation Of Unvented Gas Heating Devices

(From For the Record, Thursday, November 9, 1995): Unvented decorative gas fireplaces and logs are approved for use in Coeur d’Alene. An article on the business page of Wednesday’s Spokesman-Review said otherwise.

With snow falling, Ziggy’s hardware chain had hoped to be moving hundreds of new unvented gas fireplaces and gas logs out the door.

The devices are supposed to burn more efficiently than wood stoves and, as a supplemental heat source, do not need a chimney.

Except in the city of Spokane.

City officials, hoping to protect citizens from possible respiratory afflictions, have snuffed out Ziggy’s unvented gas log venture, saying residents can’t install the devices in their homes. That’s left Ziggy’s holding $50,000 in inventory that’s outlawed in Spokane.

Ziggy’s owners are hot, saying the city has unfairly denied approval of the fireplaces. They point out that Spokane County approved the devices in September and the Washington State Building Codes Council last month rejected questions about public health to OK the devices for most homes.

“They should be consistent,” said Ziggy’s President Reid Ziegler. “If it’s such a big health problem, why don’t they shut it down statewide?”

Irving Reed, director of planning and engineering services for the city, said the decision to ban unvented, decorative gas logs and fireplaces is based on a warning from the state Department of Health Office of Toxic Substances. The agency said that children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with heart and lung disease could be harmed by emissions from the devices.

Reed agreed that it’s confusing when the city, county and state take different positions. But until health concerns are answered to the city’s satisfaction, Ziggy’s will have to keep the gas logs on ice.

“It’s a judgment call, there’s no doubt about it,” Reed said. “Our judgment right now is that we’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Ziegler said he would never sell a hazardous product. But 4 million units have been sold nationally without ill effect.

Ziggy’s is not the only store that sells unvented gas fireplaces, but it’s the only one complaining to city hall, officials said. Ziggy’s units are made by Temco Fireplace Products in Southern California.

The devices range from a $359 gas log that’s placed in an existing fireplace to a $1,200 stand-alone fireplace. A decorative flame no bigger than a stove-top gas burner generates modest heat.

Ziegler said the city’s ruling has forced managers at the company’s three Spokane stores to give refunds to city residents who can’t get permits for the gas logs.

The scenario is similar in Kootenai County where the devices are allowed anywhere but inside Coeur d’Alene city limits, Ziegler said.

Ziegler could appeal Spokane’s decision to a local Construction Review Board, but he’s doubtful of his chances.

In September, building official Bob Eugene wrote Ziggy’s that the city was banning unvented gas logs because they were not approved by a nationally recognized testing agency. After the codes council ruled that the devices had been properly tested, the city then told Ziggy’s that its decision was based on public health.

“They’ve got one objective - to get through this heating season without permitting any vent-free gas appliances,” Ziegler said.

Reed said the city has no agenda.

“We’re not out to cause Mr. Ziegler’s business trouble,” he said.

, DataTimes