As fall sets in, the weather starts to get colder and you can’t wait to light up the first fire of the season in your fireplace, but is it clean?  Chimney fires can cause a lot of smoke damage as well as structural damage if the fire extends past the chimney.  Know that if this does occur in your home, STOP is here to help you clean up and restore your home to the way it was before the disaster. There is no real distinct “rule” as far as how often your chimney should be cleaned out but a good guideline is to have it cleaned at least once a year.  Chimneys, fireplaces and vents should all be inspected at least once a year to ensure that there aren’t any foreign deposits in the flue, sometimes bird nests can fall into the column and catch fire.  These are often difficult to see by simply inspecting the structure on your own. The process begins with the incomplete combustion of a particular fuel source in the attached structure usually a wood, coal stove or open fire.  The unburned particles are heated to the state where it becomes a vapor, but not consumed due to a lack of adequate heat and oxygen within the appliance. These particles escape into the chimney, where they gain contact with cooler surfaces and condense into tar like deposits, and soot. Successive layers accumulate until either the chimney plugs completely, or the chimney reaches a dangerous temperature and oxygen level at which the deposits could ignite. Due to the concentrated level of combustible material, these fires tend to burn very hot. If you do end up with a fire or smoke damage, STOP is who you need to call.  We can take care of it all.