As the days get colder in the winter months, people may turn to their chimney or fireplace to keep their houses warm.

While nothing beats snuggling up next to a crackling fire, it is critical to maintain proper care of fireplaces and chimneys to prevent potential fires.

Santa Barbara City and County Fire Departments have responded to multiple chimney/fireplace fires this winter season, and urge people to regularly get their chimneys swept to prevent the fires from happening.

People who burn wood in their fireplaces are encouraged to get their chimneys swept about once a year, Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig told Noozhawk.

However, for people who only use their fireplaces 1-3 times a year, “the best thing to do” is have the chimney serviced every 3-5 years, he added.

“People who really use their fireplace as a primary source of heat, it’s really recommended to do every year,” Hartwig said. 

Santa Barbara City Fire Public Outreach Coordinator Liliana Encinas told Noozhawk that the department discourages people from using the fireplace as a primary form of heating, and said that wall or space heaters are preferred.

“However, we do suggest that for people who do use their fireplace for heating, the least you can do is make sure everything is working correctly,” Encinas said. “We’re adamant about them checking it regularly, at least once a year.”

Hartwig said that the fire department occasionally gets called because a house fills up with smoke because somebody may have closed the chimney flue and did not open it back up before using the fireplace, so he said it is always important to check if the flue is open as well.

Leslie Rapp, office manager for Tubular George chimney service company in Santa Barbara, said that what typically happens prior to a chimney fire, and the reason that prompts people to call the company, is that people complain that “all of a sudden” their house is filled up with smoke.

“The soot builds up on the chimney walls and starts to back up, so there’s too much smoke and not enough chimney and the smoke ends up coming back in the house,” Rapp told Noozhawk. “Cleaning the fireplace and the chimney solves this problem 90% of the time.”

City Fire Battalion Chief Robert Mercado cautioned that residents should also make sure their fireplace flue is not full of soot, which can catch on fire.

He also noted that in older masonry fireplaces, the grout between the blocks can break down, allowing sparks or heat to escape and catch wooden parts of the home of fire.

Hartwig explained that products of combustion build up in chimneys over time, and some of the products like pines have sap in them, so they begin to cake inside the chimney.

“They are mostly combusted, but not completely. Often times what happens is people get over-zealous and they load the fire more than they should so the heat reaches up to those areas where it’s caking,” he said. “It really looks like a blow torch, the clearance around the roof, attic, and brick isn’t (made) for that kind of heat.”

Very often, Hartwig said, that heat catches other combustible material in the roof and attic on fire.

Local chimney sweeps can be hired to clean out fireplaces, chimneys and flues, and inspect them for any issues.

“If you haven’t done it in a while, or you can’t remember when you did it, chimney sweeps are really good,” Hartwig said. “They’re relatively inexpensive, it’s a quick process and very affordable, but what it could save is far more valuable than the price it costs.”

Rapp said that the company is always very busy in the winter months as people call to have their chimneys serviced.

People are also warned to burn only natural wood materials in their fireplaces, and not trash, construction debris or their old Christmas tree.

If people are burning synthetic or fire wood, it is important to have it is inspected to ensure that they are not burning anything other than that wood, Encinas said.

Encinas cautioned people to turn their chimneys off and put out the fires in their fireplace at night, and make sure that any fire burning in an outdoor fireplace or firepit is not left unattended.

— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.