{"id":1993,"date":"2016-02-03T22:15:20","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T22:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/blog\/fireplace-safety-guidelines\/"},"modified":"2016-02-03T22:15:20","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T22:15:20","slug":"fireplace-safety-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/blog\/fireplace-safety-guidelines\/","title":{"rendered":"Fireplace Safety Guidelines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: left;height: 208px;margin: 10px 20px;width: 400px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/1.20fireplace-safety.png\" alt=\"\" \/>According to the National Fire Protection Association, more than a third of home heating fires in the U.S. involve fireplaces and chimneys. Over half of these fires were caused by failure to clean the chimney or by objects placed too closely to the heat source. Read the tips below to learn how to use your fireplace safely this winter:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Before the heating season, hire a professional <strong>chimney sweep<\/strong> to inspect and remove creosote or other obstructions, such as animal nests, from the chimney.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">If your chimney doesn\u2019t have a <strong>cap<\/strong> at the top, have one installed to prevent debris or animals from entering the chimney.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Keep any <strong>flammable objects<\/strong> (i.e. newspapers, books or furniture) at least 2 feet away from the fireplace.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Make sure there is a <strong>fire extinguisher<\/strong> in the room, and that your <strong>smoke and <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/blog\/carbon-monoxide-co-safety-rules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>carbon monoxide<\/strong><\/a><strong> alarms<\/strong> are working.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Use only dry, seasoned <strong>wood<\/strong> cut to the correct length.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Have a <strong>mesh metal screen<\/strong> or <strong>fire screen<\/strong> installed to prevent embers from shooting out of the fireplace.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>When starting a fire:<\/strong>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: circle\">\n<li>Remove the <strong>ashes<\/strong> from the previous fire. Leaving the ashes will result in more smoke, as it reduces the air supply to wood. Put the ashes in a <strong>metal container<\/strong> with a tight lid and store it outside the house.<\/li>\n<li>Open the <strong>damper<\/strong>; you may have to look up into the chimney with a mirror or flashlight to check that it\u2019s open.<\/li>\n<li>Place <strong>crumpled paper<\/strong> on the grate and cover it with <strong>kindling<\/strong> or other Firestarter. Add the <strong>firewood<\/strong> once the kindling is burning brightly. Then, close the <strong>fire screen<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t overload<\/strong> the fireplace; a large fire generates more smoke and can damage your chimney.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Never use flammable liquids<\/strong> to start a fire and don\u2019t burn plastic, garbage or other toxic materials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Use <strong>fireplace tools<\/strong> to maintain the fire.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Keep <strong>children and pets<\/strong> at a safe distance from the fire.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Always <strong>supervise<\/strong> the fire and never leave it burning when going to sleep or leaving the home.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\">Close the <strong>damper<\/strong> only when the embers have cooled off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">If you have a portable fireplace, check out these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/blog\/portable-fireplace-safety-tips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">safety tips<\/a>. More information about heating equipment safety can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/blog\/heating-equipment-fire-safety-tips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>. For professional fire, water and mold restoration services, contact your local PuroClean office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the National Fire Protection Association, more than a third of home heating fires in the U.S. involve fireplaces and chimneys. Over half of these fires were caused by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","blog-category":[13],"class_list":["post-1993","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry","blog-category-fire-restoration"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/1993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/1993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"blog-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.puroclean.com\/jacksonville-fl-puroclean-jacksonville-southbank\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-category?post=1993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}