Fire Prevention Week 2025 is October 5-11 and is themed “Charge into Fire Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home.”
Sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association, the week is a time for everyone to remind themselves of the ways they can help keep fires from happening in their homes and on their properties. In order to keep your house safe, there are several steps you can take to ensure that a fire does not occur in your chimney or is caused by your fireplace. With that in mind, here are tips for National Fire Prevention Week and Your Chimney.
Keeping your chimney inspected and cleaned is crucial to fireplace safety. It needs to be performed annually; more if you use your fireplace frequently. If your chimney isn’t cleaned on a routine basis, the logs you use in your fireplace can create a tacky, highly flammable substance called creosote, which will cover the interior of your chimney. With the passage of time, the creosote will become thicker, which will surely lead to a chimney fire. Using a qualified, experienced, and reliable chimney sweep service to clean your chimney can prevent chimney fires.
An ideal way to protect your home from out-of-control fires is to keep a fire extinguisher by your fireplace. If the fire in your hearth becomes too big, or an ember leaps out (more on that below), you can suppress it quickly.
Embers can fly out of a fireplace and land on curtains, furniture, or carpet, and will light them on fire. Move your furniture at least three feet away from your fireplace; if not, a fire may ignite moments after an ember hits a chair or table. The best way to prevent this from happening is to position a screen in front of your fireplace to keep embers and flammable projectiles in. A screen also has the benefit of keeping pets and children from getting burned by your fireplace.
A key thing you should do frequently is inspect and replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors often. Placing new batteries in your detectors will guarantee that your home,family, and pets are safe from fires and toxic fumes. If you don’t have smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, you should get some right away; they could save your family’s life. Make sure to put them fifteen feet away from your fireplace for ideal performance.
Burning materials other than seasoned wood in your fireplace could be toxic. Painted or treated wood can generate fumes that could make your family and pets ill or could possibly be fatal. You should follow the same rule with plastics and other non-wood items. Be sure the wood you burn is seasoned for the ideal effect. Uncured, or green wood, will create excessive smoke, filling up the room your fireplace is in, and make it hard to breathe.
So, ensure your home is safe this National Fire Prevention Week and all year long; pay attention to these fireplace safety tips.
Don’t forget to follow these three important tips from the National Fire Protection Association!
Buy only listed products. When buying a product that uses a lithium-ion battery look for a safety certification mark such as UL, ETL, or CSA. This means it meets important safety standards.
Charge devices safely. Always use the cords that came with the product to charge. Follow the instructions from the manufacturer. Buy new chargers from the manufacturer or one that the manufacturer has approved. Charge your device on a hard surface. Don’t overcharge your device. Unplug it or remove the battery when it’s fully charged.
Recycle batteries responsibly. Don’t throw lithium-ion batteries in the trash or regular recycling bins because they could start a fire. Recycle your device or battery at a safe battery recycling location. Visit call2recycle.org to find a recycling spot near you.
If you want to keep fires safe in your fireplace, then contact us today. Our professional chimney sweeps know how to keep your fireplace and chimney in great shape for years to come through expert cleaning, inspections, and maintenance. Get in touch with us right away so we can discuss how we can make your chimney safer.
