You’ve Used Your Fireplace… Are You Taking Care of It?

In the past week, 3 chimney fires were reported in the news.
 There were two chimney fires in Park
Ridge, one was in a townhouse, and the third chimney fire was in Kenosha,
WI.  Just in December,  chimney fires were reported in Lake
Zurich as well as in Springfield.

As everyone is inundated with information each day, it’s
easy to push this one off to the side.  “It won’t happen to me.”  But it can.  On average, according to CSIA (Chimney Safety Institute of
America) there are over 22,000 fireplace, chimney, and chimney connector
fires each year across the country.  These
could have all been avoided.

That’s why we communicate valuable information to you each
month.  Our job is to keep you and your
family safe as well as help you save energy by taking care of your fireplace
and chimney.   We take many extra steps
to ensure that each of our technicians are Certified
and keep current with continuing
education.

So when you get a Superior Chimney 14 point inspection
with pictures to show you what’s going on, you can see that we’ve taken all the
steps necessary to ensure a healthy and safe environment.

What can Cause a Chimney Fire?

Chimney fires are often caused by either a buildup of
creosote, which is a byproduct of burned wood, or cracks in the fire clay flue
tile liner.  Both causes of chimney fires
are preventable with a chimney and fireplace inspection each year.

Ways to Identify a Chimney Fire

1. A loud crackling sound or a popping noise
2. Dense, thick smoke coming into the fireplace and
   your home
3. Dense, thick smoke coming out of the top of the
   chimney
4. Flames coming out of the chimney, either top or
   bottom
5. A roaring sound. Some say it sounds like a train
   or low flying airplane
6. Slow burning chimney fires are very dangerous as
   most often they go unnoticed

If any of these do occur, get out of the house and call the
fire department.  Let them check it out
and take care of the house.

Top 5 Chimney Preventative Measures

1. Call Superior Chimney for a sweep, check and
   inspection.  That’s the best way to
   prevent a fire. The chimney fire clay flue tiles are checked, any creosote is
   removed and 12 more areas and points are checked on our 14-point inspection.
2. Build reasonable fires – Bonfires are for the
   outdoors.
3. Use only split & seasoned hardwood firewood.
4. It’s best to keep paper, wrappings, toys, pet
   hair, anything…from entering or being near the fireplace.
5. Install a quality chimney cap, we can do that
   for you.

Now that you know what to do, have a safe rest of the
winter.  If you haven’t had a chimney
inspection yet this year, get it done now so you can have peace of mind that
you and your family are safe.  If you had
your chimney and fireplace swept already, we’ll see you again in the Spring or Summer…
Beat the Fall rush!  Make your
appointment today!  Call 877-244-6349

This post first appeared on https://www.superiorchimney.net