Home fire safety a key during winter months

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For many Clark County residents, there’s just nothing like the warmth that comes from a wood or pellet stove in the fall and winter. However, those who do depend on stoves for heat this time of year do need to take some precautions with their stoves and chimneys.

“We want our customers to be educated so they can be safe burners,’’ said Barb Sigler, who along with husband Garen have owned Matchbox Chimney Sweeps for the past five years.

Garen and Barb recommend that area residents have their fireplace or stove and chimney inspected every year. The U.S. Fire Administration estimates that wood stoves cause more than 4,000 residential fires per year, which illustrates the importance to burn the right wood, the right way, in the right appliance.

Last year, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimated that one home structure fire was reported every 85 seconds. It’s important for homeowners to make sure to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to help prevent a catastrophic fire and injury.

It’s also important to make sure to have a Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) certified sweep clean and inspect your chimney, preferably before using it in the cold season. Unwanted creosote build-up in the chimney can be the cause of dangerous fires.

“We inspect and we sweep,’’ said Garen Sigler, who said Matchbox Chimney Sweeps is the only CSIA-certified company in Clark County. “We also inspect and install chimney caps and we install refractory panels for prefab fireplaces.’’

Duane Johnson, of the Southwest Washington Clean Air Agency, joined the Siglers in reminding area residents to burn only dry seasoned firewood for a hotter burn, fuel savings and to reduce the amount of smoke your stove produces. Properly dried firewood should have a moisture content of 20 percent or less and sound hollow when knocked against one another.

“In Washington it’s against the law to burn wood with over a 20 percent moisture content,’’ Garen Sigler said. “Most people selling firewood say it’s seasoned wood but they can’t sit on it long enough to season it so a lot of people are out there burning wood that’s over 20 percent moisture and that can cause a lot of problems.’’



Johnson encouraged homeowners to build a woodshed on their property so they can dry out their wood and lower the moisture content to less than 20 percent.

Johnson also pointed out that homeowners should build smaller fires and allow them to burn as hot as possible.

“People like to close the damper down because they’re trying to hold the fire longer,’’ he said. “We want everybody to have their damper wide open and burn as hot as they can burn. If you have to open your windows to cool off the house, do that.’’

Those hotter fires keep creosote from building in the chimney.

“We’ve seen a customer burn through four cords of wood and their chimney won’t even need to be swept,’’ Garen Sigler said. “We’ve seen others who will go through one cord and have a very heavy buildup.’’

Barb also reminds customers to think about their chimney caps, which keep the rain out of the chimney. That prevents components from rusting and also keeps animals out of the chimney.

“A chimney cap is preventative maintenance,’’ she said. “Spending $155 now will save you from spending anywhere from $600 to $4,000 on a complete chimney rebuild. Dampers are incorporated into the brick work. It is very expensive to replace them.’’

More information can be found on the Southwest Washington Clean Air website, www.swcleanair.org or by calling Matchbox Chimney Sweeps at (360) 892-8009. Also, visit  www.matchboxchimney.com.