Enjoy Your Fireplace Safely

While this is the season for those wonderful fireplace fires, it’s also the season of danger in that same wonderful fireplace.

The National Chimney Sweep Guild, a trade association, has this timely advice about your fireplace:

Do not burn trash, newspaper or wrapping paper in it.

Do not burn pine cones. The sap can cause a glaze to form on the chimney walls.

Do not allow a fire or log to smolder overnight.

Use only a metal container to dispose of ashes. Use only well-seasoned hardwoods. Softwoods leave more creosote, and green wood causes smoke buildup.

Make sure a smoke alarm is attached nearby, and have a fire extinguisher ready.

Make sure your chimney has an approved spark arrester. A spark arrester is a device with a metal cage on the sides and a solid metal top. It’s fastened over the chimney to prevent rain, leaves and animals from getting in and stops sparks or clumps of burning material from getting out.

Have your chimney swept as often as necessary.

How often should you have your chimney swept? If you use a great deal of softwood, which leaves more creosote after burning than hardwoods, you’ll need to have your chimney swept once a year, preferably at the beginning of the fireplace season.