By April Reese

University of Georgia

Every winter, many homes in Georgia fall victim to chimney
fires.
University of Georgia foresters say cleaning a chimney helps
prevent the risk of these fires.

David Moorhead, UGA professor of silviculture, or commercial
forestry, says it’s important to check your chimney and burn an
efficient fire.

Give your fireplace a winter
checkup

“Make sure all fireplace equipment is in good shape,” Moorhead
said. That includes stoves, inserts and fireplaces. Pay close
attention to the flues, chimneys and stovepipe to make sure
they’re clean and ready to go for the winter.

Buildups in chimneys can cause fires. “You will get buildup of
material and soot,” Moorhead said. “In some cases, this causes
creosote, which is an oily deposit inside of a chimney or flue.
In certain circumstances, that can cause a fire.”

To help avoid a house fire, have your chimney cleaned.

“A little bit of preventive maintenance can really save a lot
of
problems down the road,” Moorhead said. “Typically, you’ll need
to thoroughly check all of the equipment, any electrical
components, the blowers or anything that might be associated with
your wood-burning units.”

Check the integrity of your chimney, stovepipe and any flame
arresters, he said. And check the hearth in open fireplaces.

“If you have an open fireplace, without a screen, it’s very
likely you could have things that may have nested in there over
the summer,” he said. “It’s good to clean out any nests that may
be in the chimney flu, because these could cause a flash fire
when you first light your fireplace.”

If you use a fireplace with a pilot light or gas starter,
check
the fittings to make sure they’re working properly. “If you
have any
questions, contact someone who can come out and check the
connections,” Moorhead said.

Proper firewood: hardwoods

“One of the things that can really help in not only safety
but in
efficiency, too, is to use the right kind of firewood,” he said.
The best wood is seasoned because its moisture content has
been reduced through
drying.

Moorhead suggests splitting and stacking the wood and keeping
a
cover over it. With normal Georgia temperatures, he said, the
wood will air-dry sufficiently in three or four months.

Don’t go out and cut living trees for firewood, Moorhead said.
“You’ll be better off to work on some trees that have been cut
previously and have dried out a little,” he said, “or to buy wood
from a vendor.”

“Green wood is going to have a high moisture content that’s
going
to allow a lot of the extractives in wood to go up in smoke and
form residues on flues, chimneys and stovepipes,” he said. “Over
time, that’s where we get a buildup of creosote that could start
a chimney or a flue fire.”

Heat efficiency

“Seasoned wood is particularly important for an efficient heat
source, as well as safety,” he said. “Hardwoods like oak,
hickory, hard maple and pecan give a higher heat value and last
longer.”

Pine can be good starter wood but burns too quickly to be an
efficient heat source. Moorhead recommends using only seasoned
pine and in moderation.

“You won’t want to go on a diet of 100-percent pine, but a
little
won’t hurt,” he said.