Early morning fire highlights the need for creosote cleanup

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho Falls Fire Department is reminding you to clean out chimneys and wood burning stoves after a house fire over the weekend.

More than 27 million homes in the US still have fireplaces, and while gas and electric are becoming more mainstream, many still use wood. There's another 9 million wood burning stoves.

A wood-burning stove was the cause of a fire that broke out in Idaho Falls early Sunday morning, according to Chief Mark Pitcher.

"There's a fire that was lit the night before. Most likely that either had a creosote build-up in the chimney or over time," he said.

Creosote is a brown and black, tar-like substance that's highly flammable.

"It's the contents of the smoke," explained Chief Pitcher. "So it'll build up and be sticky inside of chimneys over years. If you don't clean it, you can actually scrape it."

Pitcher recommends hiring a professional to clean out creosote build-up.

"They've got the proper tools to clean them, to inspect them, too. You know, if it's a camera down and inspect those seams. Whether they're inspecting it, whether they're servicing or whether they're cleaning it, get somebody who's qualified to do that and look for those," he says.