While Southern California only experiences a relatively mild winter compared to the rest of the country, it is nice to have your fireplace roaring as it storms outside.

If you have a wood burning fireplace at home, there are some important maintenance tips we would like to share with our readers:

• Clean your wood-burning fireplace’s interior including its floor regularly. Sweep out or vacuum up cold ashes. Make sure to wear a dust mask and gloves when cleaning the fireplace.
• Check the interior of your wood-burning fireplace’s chimney for creosote buildup. Creosote is a dark colored or black substance that can accumulate if wood isn’t burning completely. It is flammable and, therefore, a buildup of creosote is a fire hazard and should be cleaned away with a creosote remover as soon as possible.
• Hire a professional chimney sweep to inspect your wood-burning fireplace at least once a year and more often if creosote builds up on the chimney walls rapidly.
• Inspect your chimney cap regularly. A chimney cap is used to keep out rain, birds, squirrels and other animals, and other debris from entering the chimney.
• Watch for soot buildup in the chimney of your wood-burning fireplace. Soot is softer than creosote, flammable and should be cleaned out of the chimney regularly.
• If possible, burn hardwoods like maple, oak, ash and birch. The advantages of hardwoods are that they burn hot and long; have less pitch and sap, making them cleaner to handle; and tend to cause less creosote buildup. On the other hand, they generally are more expensive than softwoods.
• Take caution anytime there is smoke indoors from your wood-burning fireplace and immediately correct any problems that you find. Possible causes of smoke are a dirty chimney with creosote or soot buildup, other debris in the chimney, a damper that isn’t open or is only partly open and wood that is not burning completely.

Did you know that most home fire deaths occur where there is no working fire alarm? Did you also know that most fire deaths occur during prime sleeping hours? Most affected are young children and the elderly because of lack of warning.

With the holidays come more of a chance of an accidental home fire. Make sure your home is prepared to not only warn you in the event of a fire but to prevent a fire all together. Below are tips to preventing fire in your home:

• Smoke Alarms – Install them if you have none, and check the ones you do have. Press the test button once a month and change batteries every year. Smoke alarms older than 10 years are more likely to fail.
• Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms – Equally as important as smoke alarms is having a unit that will alert you of high levels of carbon monoxide in the home. Check the unit’s packaging and also with your local fire department to learn more about what constitutes a hazardous CO reading.
• Heating Equipment – Heating equipment is a leading factor in home fires during winter months. Be sure to have furnaces serviced by a reputable inspector, cleaned and maintained each fall before cold weather sets in. When operating portable or fixed space heaters, be conscious to keep them away from items that could ignite, including drapes and articles of clothing.
• Personal Habits – Be conscious of where you are when you do the things you do. Smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths, sending bedding, trash and furniture up in flames. More fires start in the kitchen than any other place in the home, so keep a watchful eye on what you’re cooking.
• Flammables – Ensure that flammables, such as gasoline, kerosene and paints, are kept in proper containers, tightly sealed and stored away from heat and flame. Never store any of those items near a furnace or hot water heater, and be sure to follow manufacturer instructions on storing these types of products.
• Extinguishers – Many small home fires can be taken care of using a fire extinguisher before they get out of hand. One thing to remember, though, is that extinguishers do not last forever – plan on replacing the unit about every three years.

Home fires are definitely something to be concerned about and everyone should take precaution in their home to prevent fires from starting.

The Lawhead Team would like to share some tips to preventing home fires.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that while 95 percent of U.S. homes have smoke alarms, 70 percent of home fire deaths occur where there is no working alarm. What’s more, about half of the 2,670 people killed in home fires in 2002 died between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., the prime sleep hours, even though only one-fourth of home fires occurred during those times. Those most affected by the lack of warning are young children and the elderly.

Indeed, these are frightening statistics. But there is something you can do to help prevent home fires and detect them before they get out of control. After all, safety should never take a vacation, and planning for an emergency just makes good sense. Here are some tips to ensure that you and your family are safe and secure:

• Smoke Alarms – Install them if you have none, and check the ones you do have. Press the test button once a month and change batteries every year. Also, smoke alarms older than 10 years are more likely to fail. Consider installing one of the newest alarm innovations that features both a voice and alarm warning.
• Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms – Equally as important as smoke alarms is having a unit that will alert you of high levels of carbon monoxide in the home. Check the unit’s packaging and also with your local fire department to learn more about what constitutes a hazardous CO reading. Some manufacturers now offer units that combine smoke and CO protection.
• Heating Equipment – Heating equipment is a leading factor in home fires during winter months. Be sure to have furnaces serviced by a reputable inspector, cleaned and maintained each fall before cold weather sets in. When operating portable or fixed space heaters, be conscious to keep them away from items that could ignite, including drapes and articles of clothing.
• Personal Habits – Be conscious of where you are when you do the things you do. Smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths, sending bedding, trash and furniture up in flames. More fires start in the kitchen than any other place in the home, so keep a watchful eye on what you’re cooking. Candle fires have tripled over the last 10 years, with some 40 percent of those fires beginning in a bedroom.
• Flammables – Ensure that flammables, such as gasoline, kerosene and paints, are kept in proper containers, tightly sealed and stored away from heat and flame. Never store any of those items near a furnace or hot water heater, and be sure to follow manufacturer instructions on storing these types of products.
• Extinguishers – Many small home fires can be taken care of using a fire extinguisher before they get out of hand. The National Safety Council’s Web site, www.nsc.org, suggests keeping an extinguisher rated for grease and electrical fires in the kitchen. Also place properly-rated units near the furnace and in the garage. One thing to remember, though, is that extinguishers do not last forever. Even if the needle is “in the green,” plan on replacing the unit about every three years.