Thanksgiving Greetings for a Safe and Warm Holiday – Safety Tips as you Decorate for the Holidays

We want to take a moment to let you know how thankful we are to have customers and colleagues like you. We wish you and your family nothing but the best this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season.

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, many of us turn our attention to the joy of decorating our homes with holiday decor. Decorations do create a warm, welcoming, and celebratory environment to support your family meal.

Those of us with fireplaces know that a fireplace can be the central gathering place in the home because of their warmth and charm. Therefore, the mantle and hearth of a fireplace can be an ideal place for Thanksgiving decorations.

Please keep these safety tips in mind:

Eliminate all flammable items before lighting a fire

Many of the decorations we see around fireplaces this time of year are likely flammable. We recommend either not using flammable materials like paper, sticks, and leaves or removing them before starting a fire. Just because the above is not in direct contact with the flame doesn’t mean they can’t catch fire from exposure to heat or flying sparks.

Do not decorate your screen or fireguard

Do not place decorations directly on your fireguard. Your fireplace screen is meant to prevent sparks from your fireplace from igniting items in the room around it. Putting things directly on the screen can quickly ignite a fire outside the fireplace. In addition to this, always ensure your fireguard is in place while enjoying a fire.

Utilize only flame-retardant decorations

We are often tempted to bring the outdoors in and use natural materials for decorating during the fall season. While natural materials like pumpkins, gourds, and pinecones can be used safely from the fireplace (3 feet), there are many synthetic flame-retardant decorations sold in stores, and we recommend those the closer they are to the actual flame.

Have your fireplace inspected annually

Without a doubt, the biggest step you can take in safely operating your fireplace is ensuring it is inspected annually and cleaned as needed. It is a serious risk for a chimney fire and other issues that can destroy your home or sicken your family if you don’t take your fireplace seriously.

If you haven’t scheduled your annual chimney inspection with us, contact us today or give us a call at 781-893-6611.

The post Thanksgiving Greetings for a Safe and Warm Holiday – Safety Tips as you Decorate for the Holidays appeared first on Boston's Best Chimney.