According to the National Fire Prevention Association, there are almost 11,000 chimney fires in the United States every year, causing over $7 million in damage.

Disaster-Proofing | Child-Proofing | Chimney Safety

Those statistics don't even account for fires started by logs and embers rolling out of the fireplace, hot tools being placed next to flammable materials and all the other house fire causes that make insurance agents cringe and start filling out lots of "special" forms.

With that in mind, it makes sense to spend a few minutes going over the basic steps to follow to make sure that your fireplace remains the warm, friendly part of your home it's always been, and not the reason your home is a smoking pile of embers being doused by firemen.

Get it cleaned:
I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention: Do not, under any circumstances try to clean your chimney yourself. There are numerous products on the market that purport to clean your chimney as well as a chimney sweep. I'm not going to drop myself into the legal quagmire of dismissing them outright, but I will tell you that I wouldn't trust the biggest real estate investment I have to anything short of an honest-to-Dickens sweep. Sweeps have brushes, solvents and all the equipment to ensure your damper, flue and firebox are clean and in good order. A do-it-yourself chimney sweeping product will not tell you if you've got a crack in your flue that is allowing hot gases to leak into the walls of your home.

You should have your chimney cleaned at least once a year. If you live in a cold climate (I'm talking to you, Milwaukee) and use your fireplace a lot, go for two cleanings. Make sure your chimney sweep is certified by the CSIA (Chimney Safety Institute of America).

Keep it clean:
When you see firewood for sale in the local paper, have you ever noticed that it's always referred to as "hardwood?" You'll never see any firewood salesman worth his salt selling pine, cedar or other softwoods as anything other than kindling. The reason here is that softwoods do not burn as cleanly as hardwoods, and will cause far more buildup of harmful (and flammable) soot and resins in your chimney.

Don't burn trash:
A good friend of mine, a retired college professor, invited me over one winter evening. He had a roaring fire going, and when I saw what he was using for fuel I almost had us evacuate the area. He had been redoing some gardens, and had a huge stack of old landscape timbers which he'd been cutting up for fuel.

Not only are landscape timbers pine, they're treated with various chemicals that just add to the potentially disastrous party in your chimney.

Do not ever, even as kindling, burn any kind of treated, varnished, painted or stained wood in your fireplace. Basically, if it isn't in the same shape it was when it came off the tree, it shouldn't be in your fireplace.

Check your tools:
Faulty tools, such as a poker with a loose tip or a pair of tongs with a bad hinge, can leave you with a flaming log rolling across your foot like a nuclear tribble while it goes about lighting your house on fire. Before your first fire, give your tools a good shake and listen for any untoward rattles. Move some unlit logs around in the fireplace to make sure they can take the stress.

Clear the area:
Lots of us like to redecorate from time to time. Before you light your first fire, take a moment to make sure none of your new drapes, pictures, wall hangings or other flammable decorative touches are too close for comfort. Now would be a good time to take down the crepe paper curtain you hung from the mantel as part of your Easter decorations.

Follow these steps and you'll have a better chance of enjoying a winter's worth of fireplace fun without having to replace large portions of your home. More Information:

• Keep Your Fireplace From Being Deadly
• Prevent Indoor Air Pollution
• Fireplace Safety Tips
• Fireplace Cleaning And Fuel Tips
• 10 Ways To Spark Up Your Fireplace