How to Properly Maintain Your Fireplace

By Allan B. Colombo

Homeowners should properly maintain their fireplaces as well as the chimney that carries particles of combustion (smoke) outside the home. Here's how to do it:

• Keep the areas off to the side and in front of your fireplace free of combustible materials, such as papers and clothing. Above all, do not place this year's Christmas tree within 3 feet of the fireplace side walls and 4 feet from the front opening.
• Keep the vents that circulate air clear and unobstructed.
• Remove the ashes from your fireplace periodically. Only do this after the fire is out and it has had time to cool. Place the ashes in a metal container with a tight-fitting lid and store it on a non-combustible surface or remove it from your home altogether. Also, keep it away from combustible items so it cannot cause a fire.
• Inspect the firebox regularly. Be sure it is not deteriorating and that creosote or soot has not accumulated on the inner surface. Look for signs of warped metal, severe corrosion, joint separation, and cracked refractory or brick linings.
• Inspect the chimney regularly. Look to see whether the chimney needs cleaned. If the coating is more than 3 mm (U.L. Canada), it should be cleaned by a professional chimney sweep. Keep in mind that if you do not know what you're doing, you can damage your chimney's lining.

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If you do not properly maintain your chimney, you're asking for big problems. "Failure to properly clean [your] chimney can result in the build-up of substantial quantities of creosote or soot on the inside of a chimney, which if ignited can produce hot and damaging chimney fires. Chimney fires should be avoided at all costs" (U.L. Canada).

If a chimney fire starts in your home, there may no time to loose--use these easy-to-follow rules (Source: Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada, Scarborough, Canada):

• Close fireplace screens or doors if provided.
• Alert your family to the possibility of danger and be prepared for immediate evacuation.
• Call the local fire department.
• If available, use a multi-purpose dry chemical fire extinguisher directed into the fire opening. If it is necessary to open doors to do this, close them immediately upon completion of the extinguisher discharge.
• Be alert for smoldering or other signs of ignition of combustible materials adjacent to the fireplace and chimney. Check outside to ensure that sparks and hot embers coming from the chimney have not ignited the roof.
• Do not use the fireplace again until the chimney and fireplace have been inspected by a fire department inspector or your local building department.

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