1) Make sure your fireplace is set up to safely operate before you use it! It should have a safety screen to prevent embers and sparks from flying out onto your floor and there should be a chimney cap in place to keep sparks from floating out and landing on nearby combustibles.
2) Make sure you have fire safety equipment – fire extinguisher or bucket of sand, fireplace tools, leather gloves, etc. – nearby in case anything gets out of hand.4
3) Don’t close your glass doors when your fire is burning strongly. Leave the doors completely open while burning until the fire is dying down for the night!
4) Make sure your dryer vent doesn’t have a screen installed at the termination. These screens cause dangerous lint blockages that present a hidden but very real fire hazard!
5) Make sure your damper is open before lighting a fire so you don’t get smoked out of your house! And don’t forget to close it the next morning when the coals are cold.
6) Now is a good time to get your annual dryer vent cleaning to prevent any hidden blockages from causing a fire in your dryer exhaust system!
7) Before winter really hits, get your fireplace and chimney inspected by a certified chimney sweep to ensure the fireplace is ready to operate safely this winter!