Fireplace Safety Tips

12/3/2019 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Springfield is here for you and your restoration needs. We are your experts and will be here for you in your time of distress. Our crews are trained to take great care in restoring your home and belongings. We are available to you 24/7.  Although our business is to restore your home, we also realize prevention is key to keeping everyone safe this winter. The thought of snuggling up in front of a beautiful fireplace sounds like heaven, right? Let’s take a few minutes to make sure that little bit of heaven is safe for you and your family. Our biggest concern is keeping folks safe and happy so here are a few pointers to help keep everyone healthy.

1. Make sure your carbon monoxide detectors are working. Carbon monoxide kills 4,000 people and sickens another 10,000 every year. Keep those carbon monoxide detectors in good shape.
2. Install a chimney cap. A lot of older homes have flues or chimneys’ without caps. This can cause major issues for you and your family. You can get a number of animal infestations at the top of your chimney and never know it until you start a fire.
3. Clear the area. Fireplaces get hot enough to scald plants and damage other things. Embers sometimes pop out and can catch carpets or rugs, magazines and other sundries on fire.
4. Keep the fires small and manageable. Building too big of a fire risks overheating your firebricks and cracking them, causing permanent damage to your fireplace and making it unsafe to use. There should be ample room on all sides for your wood when it’s stacked and ready to burn.
5. Never use flammable liquids! No charcoal, no lighter fluid, no kerosene, no gasoline. It’s incredibly dangerous and could cause you to get injured or killed or start a fire outside the fireplace.
6. Don’t throw trash or wrapping paper in the fire. There are all kinds of reasons not to toss random trash in the fire, but we’re going to go with the fact that chemicals may be in it and it’s not safe to breathe. Plastics and foams are especially bad about this. Wrapping paper is just dangerous to burn, it can spark and flame outside your fireplace.
7. Take advantage of your spark guard. Even the most perfectly seasoned wood will occasionally spark, so be prepared. Always use your spark guard, whether it’s a mesh curtain or a glass door. 

We want all our readers to be as safe as possible.  As always, if disaster strikes, SERVPRO of Springfield, Sangamon, Morgan, Cass, and Montgomery Counties is always here for you. We can be reached 24/7 at 217-528-7775.