Using a fireplace safely at home
The habits that keep a fire where it belongs, from the 3-foot zone to the ash can, and what changes with gas glass and small children.
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In short
The core fireplace safety tips are five habits. Keep rugs, furniture and anything combustible at least 3 feet from the fire, use a screen or the unit's barrier, cool ashes in a covered metal can stored outside, keep smoke and carbon monoxide alarms working, and keep children and pets back from the flames and from hot gas fireplace glass.
A five-minute check before the first fire
Before lighting a wood fire after a break, open the damper fully and check the flue from below with a light. You want to see a clear passage, not leaves, a nest or fallen debris. Look at the firebox for loose or broken firebrick and at the hearth for cracks an ember could slip into. Put the screen in place and make sure it covers the whole opening.
Press the test button on each smoke alarm and CO alarm, and make that a monthly habit. If it has been a year or more since the chimney was inspected, book that first. The chimney standard, NFPA 211, puts inspection on a yearly cycle, and the first fire of the season is a good moment to have it done.
The 3-foot zone and what counts as combustible
The U.S. Fire Administration and NFPA give a simple distance: keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet from any heat source, fireplaces included. That covers rugs, furniture, curtains, cushions, stacked newspapers, the kindling basket and the spare firewood. It also covers anything hung from the mantel, which can drop toward the opening as it heats and sags.
The mantel and trim themselves are covered by the building code rather than by habit. For a masonry fireplace, the Florida Building Code keeps combustible trim at least 6 inches from the opening and limits how far it can project within 12 inches of it. A factory-built unit follows its listing, and the clearances are printed in the manual. If a mantel or surround has been added since the fireplace was built, ask for the clearances to be checked, because that is where they tend to get lost.
Screens, barriers and hot glass
Any open wood fire needs a sturdy metal mesh screen in front of it whenever it burns, because wood pops and throws embers well past the hearth. Wood with pockets of sap can pop harder than dense, dry hardwood, but any wood can throw a spark.
A glass-fronted gas fireplace has a different hazard. The glass gets hot enough to burn skin and stays hot for a while after the flame goes out. The ANSI standards for vented gas fireplaces and decorative gas appliances were revised so that units made from January 1, 2015 come with a barrier screen when the glass runs hot, and that barrier stays on whenever the unit is in use. If your unit is older and has no barrier, a free-standing safety screen set back from the glass does the same job.
Building and tending a wood fire
Start fires with newspaper, dry kindling or a natural fire starter, as EPA Burn Wise advises, and keep gasoline, lighter fluid and charcoal starter well away from the fireplace. Keep fires small and hot, with dry, seasoned wood, instead of one large load, and add wood a piece or two at a time.
Keep household trash, cardboard, plastics and wrapping paper out of the firebox. Paper and cardboard flare up fast, lift burning pieces into the flue and onto the roof, and leave residue behind. Do not leave a fire burning when everyone goes to bed or leaves the house; let it burn down, spread the embers so they cool, and close the screen. Shutting the damper over glowing coals sends carbon monoxide into the room, so it stays open until the fire is out and the coals are dark.
Ashes stay dangerous after the fire
Ash from a wood fire can hide live coals for days. The U.S. Fire Administration's advice is to store cooled ashes in a tightly covered metal container and keep that container outside, at least 10 feet from the house and any other building. Shovel ashes only when the fire is long out, move them directly into the metal can, and set the can on a surface that will not burn.
Paper bags, cardboard boxes, plastic bins and the household trash can are all the wrong place for ashes, and so is the garage or a wooden deck. A household vacuum is also a poor tool for the firebox, since a hidden ember can ignite the dust inside it. When the ashes have sat in the covered can for several days and are cold throughout, they can be disposed of.
Fireplace safety with kids and pets
NFPA's advice for households with young children is a 3-foot kid-free zone around an open fire. Mark it with a rug edge or a gate if that helps, and teach older children that the hearth is not a seat while the fire is going. For a gas fireplace, keep the barrier on, and store the remote or lock the wall switch if the unit has a child-lock feature described in its manual.
Pets drift toward warmth, and tails and fur are easy to singe on an unscreened fire. Keep a screen up whenever the fire burns, and do not leave a pet alone in the room with a live fire. Store lighters, matches and fire starters where neither children nor pets can reach them.
Alarms, and what to do when one sounds
Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms do different jobs, and a house with a fireplace needs both. Florida Statutes section 553.885 requires a carbon monoxide alarm within 10 feet of each sleeping room in buildings permitted for new construction on or after July 1, 2008 that have a fireplace or another fuel-burning source, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission advises CO alarms on every level of the home and outside sleeping areas.
When a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, or the house fills with smoke, get everyone outside and dial 911 from the open air. If you hear a roar in the chimney or see flames from its top, that is a chimney fire, and the same rule applies. Call us once the emergency is over, and leave the fireplace cold until the chimney passes a check.
What changes with gas and electric units
Every gas fireplace comes with a manual, and it is the rulebook for that unit. Follow its lighting steps, keep its barrier and glass in place, and keep the outside vent termination clear. At any smell of gas, leave the house without touching switches or trying to shut anything off, and call the gas company, or 911, from outdoors. The manual also sets a technician's check at installation and each year after that.
An electric fireplace has no flame and no flue, but it is still a heater. Keep the heater outlet clear of furniture and fabric, plug it in as its manual directs, which can mean a wall outlet and no extension cord, and switch it off at the wall if it buzzes, clicks or smells hot. Any new circuit it needs is work for an electrician.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to leave a wood fire burning overnight?
Leaving an open wood fire burning after everyone goes to sleep is not safe. Let it burn down, spread the embers so they cool, and close the screen. The damper stays open until the last coal is dark, since closing it earlier pushes carbon monoxide into the room.
Can I burn wrapping paper or cardboard in the fireplace?
No, because paper and cardboard flare quickly, lift burning pieces up the flue and onto the roof, and leave residue in the chimney. EPA Burn Wise lists cardboard, plastics and household trash among the things to keep out of a wood fire, so recycle them instead.
How far should furniture sit from the fireplace?
At least 3 feet, the distance national fire safety guidance gives for combustibles near a heat source. Give a large fire more room than that. For a gas or electric unit, the manual lists the clearances for that model.
Does a gas fireplace need a screen in front of the glass?
Yes, when the glass gets hot. Under the ANSI revisions that apply to units built in 2015 and later, a barrier screen ships with the fireplace when the glass runs hot. It should stay on whenever the unit is used. For an older unit without one, a free-standing safety screen set back from the glass keeps hands away.
How often should the alarms be tested?
At least once a month, which is the advice of the U.S. Fire Administration and NFPA. Replace batteries as the maker directs. The whole alarm is replaced when it reaches the service life its maker states, even if it still sounds when tested, since the sensor wears out with age.
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- Getting a fireplace and chimney ready for a saleA buyer's inspector will see the cap, the crown and the damper. Fix water and safety items first, and put the rest in writing.
- Vent-free gas fireplaces: the safeguards, the limits and the trade-offsWhat keeps an unvented unit within safe bounds, and what does not.
- How a fireplace can put carbon monoxide in the houseCarbon monoxide has no smell and no color, so an alarm notices it before you do. How a fireplace makes it, how it gets into the room, and where Florida law puts the alarms.
- What to do during and after a chimney fireGet out and call 911 first. Everything else here, from the roar of a fire in progress to the flakes one leaves behind, comes after that.
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