Celebrating the Holidays With Your Fireplace

​With Tips from See-More Chimneys
The turkey smells amazing. Your mouth is watering over the delectable cookies, candies, and pies neatly arranged on the counter. The presents are under the tree, festively wrapped with bright bows and colorful wrappings. The fireplace is burning brightly, sending a soft glow into the room. It occasionally snaps and pops as it sends heat into the room.  With this beautiful scene, keeping the fireplace burning brightly is essential.
Create a Kid and Pet Buffer Zone (and for some adults)
Create an area around the fireplace where children or pets aren’t able to fall against or get near the fireplace opening. A child focused on a stocking is quick as lightning and can outmaneuver most adults; Burns or falls against the outer hearth can lead to tears and fears. Also, keep in mind there is always one relative who wants to play with the fireplace. Set your boundaries gently. Fireplace screens or “fireplace gate and fence systems” are great. 
Open the Damper
Always ensure the fireplace damper is fully open before starting a fireplace fire. A closed damper can cause smoke to back up into your home, sending everyone right out the front door into the 
Protection From Flying Sparks
The snap and pop are part of the fireplace charm. When this happens, sparks can fly. A sturdy screen covering the fireplace front is necessary to keep sparks from flying as far as three feet or more into the room. 
cold. 
Kindling or Firestarters?
Start your logs easier by using kindling, a few pieces of wadded-up newspaper, a commercial firestarter, or a gas-fired ignitor for starting wood logs. Never use any gasoline or chemicals not designed for use in a fireplace! Aim for cozy, not crispy!
Hanging the Stockings With Care
Keep all stockings, baskets, firewood, or other decorations a minimum of 36” away from the fireplace opening, as recommended by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Yes, any combustible item can ignite if it is too close to the opening.
Ash Disposal
Only dispose of cool ashes and use a metal ash bucket with a tight-fitting lid. Unfortunately, people often underestimate the ability of hot ashes dumped into a container to cause a fire. Combustibles such as leaves, debris, and landscaping can ignite a blow around when an ember ignites. Garages, homes, landscaping, or other structures can catch fire. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that cool ashes should be placed a minimum of 10’ away from the home. Cold ashes around the base of rose bushes are good for them.
Firewood
When starting a fire, you may be tempted to ball up some wrapping paper in the firebox and woosh ‘fire,’ but as cool as this is, you’re damaging the chimney.
Burning paper and cardboard can cause massive temperature changes inside the chimney. These rapid temperature changes can cause terra cotta liners to break and metal liners to warp. So, spare yourself; use approved kindling, firestarters, and seasoned firewood.
Now, finding seasoned wood is hard unless you have a stack of wood outside your home. You can burn unseasoned wood, but you’ll want to ensure your chimney is checked the following spring. Softwoods cut in the spring can dry during the spring and summer and are usually seasoned in six months. Hardwoods cut during the same time may take a year to season. 
Fireplaces are a “must” for celebrating holidays. The warmth of the fireplace, the bright golden light, and the sounds of snapping and popping have created a perfect background for making beautiful memories. From the manufacturer of Chim-Scan® Inspection Systems, we wish you the best holidays ever!

See-More Chimneys provides tips and information on chimney and fireplace inspections.

Set boundaries to keep children away from the fireplace.

A grate would normally sit above this log lighter to ignite the firewood. The starter pipe on this unit needs replacing and adjusting.

The best ash bucket has a double bottom, and a tight-fitting lid. Use a metal ash shovel and only move ashes when they are cold. NEVER store it on carpet of anywhere near combustible materials when ashes are loaded.

Cracks in the end of the firewood show that it’s seasoned.