The fireplace gets more attention between Thanksgiving and New Year’s than during the entire rest of the year combined. Family gatherings, holiday decorating, longer evenings indoors, and colder weather all converge on that one spot in the living room. Stockings go up on the mantel. Garlands drape across it. The Christmas tree usually ends up nearby. And the fire gets lit more often than it has since last winter.
This is also exactly when fireplace-related fires, smoke incidents, and emergency calls spike across northeastern Pennsylvania. The pattern isn’t subtle. Fire departments in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and across the region see consistent increases in chimney fire calls, home fire calls, and carbon monoxide incidents through December and into January.
The good news is that almost every holiday fireplace incident is preventable. Here are the safety tips every Pennsylvania homeowner should know before the season hits its peak.
Why Holiday Season Is Higher Risk
A few things conspire to make late November through early January the riskiest fireplace window of the year:
More frequent use. A fireplace that gets occasional use suddenly gets nightly use, sometimes for hours at a time. Issues that wouldn’t matter on the third fire of the year start mattering on the twentieth.
Decorations near the fire. Garlands, stockings, wrapping paper, dried foliage, candles, Christmas trees — every holiday decoration on the typical mantel and in the typical living room is more flammable than what’s normally in that space.
People who don’t usually tend the fire. Holiday guests, kids home from school, family members visiting from out of town — there are more people in the house who don’t know the household’s normal fireplace routine.
Distractions. Family gatherings, cooking, conversation, gift exchanges. Attention on the fire is reduced exactly when use of the fire is increased.
Cold weather putting maximum demand on heating. The fireplace isn’t just decorative; it’s actively heating the room. Hot fires, long burn times, and high heat loads on the chimney.
End-of-year wood quality issues. Many homeowners run out of well-seasoned firewood by mid-winter and start burning whatever they have, which often means greener wood that produces dramatically more creosote.
Any one of these would moderately raise risk. Together, they create the spike that fire departments deal with every December.
The Pre-Holiday Foundation
Most of what makes a fireplace safe through the holidays gets done before the holidays start. If your chimney hasn’t been inspected this year, this is the call to make before Thanksgiving — not after.
A current professional chimney inspection confirms that the flue is clear, the liner is intact, the cap is in place, and the chimney is ready for heavy use. An annual cleaning removes creosote that could ignite under heavy holiday use. Together, they’re the foundation that the rest of the safety practices rest on. Our appointment tips page explains what to expect from an inspection visit if it’s your first time scheduling one.
If you’ve been putting it off, the window is closing fast. Most chimney services in NEPA book heavily through November, and emergency-only service starts in December. Get on the schedule now.
Decorating Around the Fireplace Safely
This is the area where most homeowners make the small mistakes that turn into big problems. A few clear rules:
Keep Combustible Decorations 36 Inches From the Firebox
This is the headline rule. Anything that can burn — garlands, stockings, wrapping paper, dried branches, paper decorations, fabric trim, holiday cards displayed on the mantel — needs to be at least 36 inches from the firebox opening. That’s three feet. Measure it.
The reason isn’t that combustible decorations will spontaneously catch fire from radiant heat (though they can, in extreme cases). The bigger risk is that a single popping ember from a real fire can land on flammable material and start a fire in the room itself. Distance is the simplest, most reliable protection.
The 36-inch rule is consistent with the standard hearth clearance requirements that apply to fireplace installations. If you wouldn’t install permanent flammable material within that distance, you shouldn’t decorate within that distance either. If you’re thinking about how your hearth area is configured, our firebox design ideas gallery shows examples of well-designed hearth setups that integrate decoration safely.
Stockings Are Fine — Until the Fire Is Lit
Stockings hung on the mantel are a hundred-year tradition and one of the most common holiday decorations. They’re also fabric, often filled with paper and plastic items, hanging directly above the fire.
The standard practical rule is this: stockings on the mantel for display are fine. Stockings on the mantel while a fire is burning are not. Take them down (or move them) before lighting the fire, and put them back when the fire is out and the fireplace has cooled.
If you don’t want to move them every time, the alternative is a stocking holder positioned at least 36 inches from the firebox — usually on a side wall, on a separate piece of furniture, or further back on the mantel if the mantel is deep enough. Whatever works to maintain the clearance.
Christmas Tree Placement Matters More Than People Think
If you have a Christmas tree in the same room as the fireplace, where you place it matters a lot:
- Minimum three feet from the firebox at the closest point, ideally more
- Not in the direct flue exhaust path if any of the smoke or heat from the chimney runs along an exterior wall
- Not blocking the fireplace clearance area that’s needed for safe operation
- Away from heat vents and radiators that can dry it out faster
A dry Christmas tree is one of the most flammable objects in a typical home. The needles, branches, and any decorations on it can ignite very quickly under the right conditions. Distance from the heat source is non-negotiable.
If you have an artificial tree, the placement rules still apply — most artificial tree materials melt and can burn under sustained heat exposure, even if they don’t ignite as easily as real trees.
Candles, Greenery, and Other Decorative Flames
Real candles add to the holiday atmosphere and add to the fire risk. A few practical rules:
- Never leave candles burning when you leave the room
- Keep candles at least 12 inches from anything combustible
- Don’t put candles directly on the mantel above an active fire — the rising hot air can interact with the candle flame in unexpected ways
- If you use candles in fireplace inserts or in firebox displays, make sure the firebox is properly cleaned and the candles are stable
Dried greenery — pine cones, dried floral arrangements, decorative branches — is more flammable than fresh greenery and dramatically more flammable than non-organic decorations. If you’re displaying it on or near the mantel, the clearance rules apply.
Fire Building Practices for Holiday Use
The way you actually build and tend the fire matters more during holiday season because you’re using the fireplace more.
Burn Properly Seasoned Wood Only
This rule applies year-round, but it’s the rule most often broken during holidays specifically. The reasons:
- Wood supplies often run low after Thanksgiving, and homeowners start burning marginal wood
- Out-of-town guests bring wood as gifts or contributions, often of unknown quality
- The fire gets used so much that even properly seasoned wood gets used up faster than anticipated
The problem with wet or unseasoned wood is creosote. Wet wood burns at lower temperatures, produces more smoke, and deposits dramatically more creosote in the chimney than dry wood. A single holiday season of burning marginal wood can deposit enough creosote to support a chimney fire, even in a chimney that was clean going into the season.
Stick to wood that’s been split and seasoned for at least 6 months — preferably 12 months for hardwoods. If you’re not sure whether your wood is dry enough, a moisture meter ($20-30 at any hardware store) gives you a definitive answer. You want readings under 20%.
Never Burn Wrapping Paper, Boxes, or Holiday Trash
This is one of the most consistent causes of holiday-season chimney fires. The temptation is obvious — you’ve got bags of wrapping paper and gift boxes to dispose of, the fire is already going, and tossing them in seems convenient.
Don’t.
Wrapping paper burns extremely hot and extremely fast. The flames flash up the flue at temperatures that can exceed 2,000°F, which is hot enough to ignite any creosote in the chimney, crack clay tile liners, and damage even stainless steel liners over time. The papers also tend to lift off as burning fragments and can be carried up the flue and out the top, where they land on the roof or the neighbor’s yard as still-burning embers.
This includes:
- Wrapping paper (especially metallic and coated varieties)
- Gift boxes (cardboard burns hot and fast)
- Plastic packaging materials
- Ribbons, bows, and decorative trim
- Pine needles or branches from the Christmas tree
- Any kind of trash, including kitchen waste
The rule is: nothing goes in the fireplace except properly seasoned firewood, dry kindling, and small amounts of newspaper for starting the fire. Everything else goes in the trash or recycling.
Don’t Overload the Firebox
A common holiday-season instinct is to build the biggest fire you can — visiting family, festive atmosphere, the desire for a warm centerpiece. Overloaded fireboxes are dangerous for several reasons:
- Larger fires push more heat into the chimney structure than the system is designed for
- More flames can reach toward the firebox opening and outside the contained area
- Larger fires consume oxygen faster and can pull combustion products back into the room
- Overheated firebox refractory can crack from thermal shock
A moderate, well-tended fire produces good heat and good ambiance without putting the chimney under unusual stress. Resist the urge to keep adding logs because the gathering is getting bigger.
Use a Working Spark Screen or Glass Doors
If you have a wood-burning fireplace, a metal spark screen or glass doors should be in place any time the fire is burning. The screen catches sparks and embers that would otherwise pop out of the firebox onto the hearth or surrounding floor.
Holiday season specifically — when more people are in the room, when there are more flammable decorations within reach, and when attention is divided — is exactly when a spark screen does the most work. Many fires we hear about start when an ember lands on a rug, a stack of presents, or a pile of wrapping paper while everyone was looking somewhere else.
If your screen has gaps, broken mesh, or doesn’t close properly, replace or repair it before the holiday season starts. The same logic applies to your chimney cap on the roof — it’s the spark arrestor that keeps embers from leaving the top of the flue and landing on your roof or your neighbor’s.
Carbon Monoxide and the Holidays
The holidays are also peak season for carbon monoxide incidents. A few reasons:
- Heating systems are running harder than during shoulder seasons
- Fireplaces are running more frequently and for longer durations
- More people in the home means more sensitivity to elevated CO levels
- Cold weather means windows stay closed and air exchange is reduced
- Multiple fuel-burning sources may be running simultaneously (fireplace, furnace, oven during big holiday cooking)
The combination of these factors means a small CO problem that wouldn’t be noticed during normal use can become a serious issue during heavy holiday use.
The protections are straightforward:
Working CO detectors throughout the home. Pennsylvania law requires CO detectors in homes with fuel-burning appliances. Test them before the holiday season starts. Replace batteries. If any detector is more than 5-7 years old, replace the unit itself.
Know the symptoms. Headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, confusion, flu-like aches without a fever. If multiple people in the house develop these symptoms at the same time — especially symptoms that improve when people go outside — treat it as a possible CO event and evacuate.
Don’t ignore detector alarms. Even a single chirp from a CO detector during holiday season deserves attention. Don’t assume it’s a low battery; verify before silencing it. False alarms exist; ignoring real ones is how people get hurt.
Have an evacuation plan. Everyone in the household should know what to do if a CO alarm sounds: get out, call 911 from outside, don’t go back in until cleared by emergency services.
CO incidents during the holidays often involve multi-generational households where elderly or young occupants are most vulnerable to lower exposure levels. The protection isn’t optional, which is one of the reasons we feel so strongly about properly installed stainless steel chimney liners — they’re the engineered safety barrier that keeps combustion gases out of your living space.
Ash Handling During Holiday Season
A specific holiday-season risk: ash disposal. With more frequent fireplace use, more ashes accumulate, and the temptation to clean them out quickly is higher.
Ashes from a wood-burning fire stay hot enough to ignite combustible material for days after the fire is out. House fires caused by improperly handled ashes are common throughout the heating season, and especially common during holidays when normal routines are disrupted.
The right ash handling procedure:
- Wait at least 24 hours after the last fire before removing ashes
- Use a metal ash bucket with a tight-fitting metal lid
- Carry the bucket outside immediately — not to the garage, the porch, or the deck
- Place it on a non-combustible surface (concrete, brick, gravel)
- Keep it at least 10 feet from the house, deck, or any combustible structure
- Wait at least 4 days before dumping the ashes into normal trash
This isn’t theoretical. We’ve seen homes catch fire from ash buckets left on wooden decks, in garages near gasoline cans, and in plastic trash bins. Ashes look cold long before they actually are cold.
If you’re hosting guests during the holidays, make sure anyone helping with fire tending knows the ash rules. This is exactly the kind of thing where a well-meaning houseguest can cause real problems by doing what seems helpful.
Travel Safety: Leaving the House
A specific holiday scenario: your family travels for the holidays, and the house sits empty (or with minimal occupancy) for a stretch of days. A few things matter:
Make sure the fire is fully out before leaving. Not “looks like it’s out.” Verify. Coals can stay hot for many hours after flames have died down. If you’re leaving the day after a fire, check the firebox is genuinely cold before you go.
Check that the damper is correctly positioned. Some homeowners leave the damper open after a fire to help any remaining heat escape; some close it to keep cold air out of the house while away. Either approach is reasonable; just be deliberate about which one you’re using.
Have someone check on the house if you’ll be away more than a few days. Heating system failures, pipe breaks, and other winter emergencies don’t wait for you to come home. A neighbor or family member who can do quick checks every few days is a meaningful protection.
Don’t leave decorations with active components running. Lighted candles, electric candles with timers, decorative fireplace inserts that operate on schedules — anything that’s actively running unattended in a house during a NEPA winter deserves a second thought.
Verify CO and smoke detectors before leaving. Same as the holiday season opening — test them, replace batteries if needed, make sure they’re functional.
What to Do If Something Goes Wrong
The most important holiday safety tip is knowing what to do if something happens. A few scenarios:
A chimney fire. If you suspect a chimney fire (loud rumbling, popping sounds from the flue, flames or sparks visible at the top of the chimney, significant smoke backing into the house): get everyone out of the house, call 911 from outside, don’t try to put it out yourself. Chimney fires can be contained quickly with proper response and can spread quickly without it.
Smoke coming back into the room. If smoke starts coming back into the living space from the fireplace: don’t add more wood, check that the damper is fully open, open a window in the same room to help draft. If smoke continues, extinguish the fire by spreading the coals (not by adding water, which can crack a hot firebox) and ventilate the room.
A CO alarm sounding. Treat as real. Evacuate. Call 911 from outside. Don’t re-enter until cleared.
Embers escaping the fireplace. If sparks or embers land on the floor, hearth rug, or any combustible material: don’t grab them with your hands (they’re hotter than they look). Use a fireplace tool to push them back into the firebox, or smother any ignited material with a fire extinguisher if it has caught.
A burn injury. Cool the burn under cool (not cold) running water for at least 10-20 minutes. Don’t apply ice, butter, or home remedies. For anything beyond a minor first-degree burn, seek medical attention.
Having these responses understood before the season starts means you’re not figuring it out during an emergency.
A Note for Households With Children or Elderly Family
Holiday gatherings often include people who don’t usually live with the fireplace — young grandchildren visiting, elderly relatives, family members with mobility issues, people unfamiliar with the household routines.
Some specific considerations:
Children should be supervised around any active fire. A spark screen is a backstop, not a babysitter. Kids and fireplaces don’t mix without active adult attention.
Glass doors on gas fireplaces stay extremely hot. Burns from contact with hot fireplace glass are one of the most common holiday injuries involving young children. If young kids are visiting, either don’t run the gas fireplace or install a safety screen designed specifically for hot glass.
Elderly family members may have reduced CO symptom awareness. Older adults are more vulnerable to CO and may not recognize symptoms as quickly. Working CO detectors matter especially in homes hosting elderly guests.
Mobility issues affect evacuation plans. Make sure everyone in the house knows the exit routes, and that anyone with limited mobility has a plan and assistance identified.
These adjustments aren’t about being paranoid. They’re about the basic recognition that the household composition during the holidays is different from the normal household composition, and the safety setup should account for that.
The Year-End Inspection Question
A final practical point: if you’ve had an unusually heavy holiday burning season — every night for weeks, multiple long fires, family gatherings using the fireplace constantly — consider scheduling a mid-season inspection in January rather than waiting until next fall.
This is especially worth considering if:
- You burned through wood faster than expected and ended up burning marginal-quality wood
- You had any incident (smoke backup, unusual draft behavior, CO detector activation) during the season
- The fireplace was used by guests who may have made fires differently than your normal practice
- You burned wrapping paper or anything else that shouldn’t have been burned (it happens; honesty is better than denial)
A mid-season inspection costs the same as a regular inspection and gives you peace of mind for the rest of the heating season. Far better than discovering a problem the hard way in February.
Why Homeowners Trust Spring Hill Chimney for Holiday-Season Service
A quick note on what makes us different from other chimney companies in NEPA. Spring Hill Chimney is the only chimney service in the region that manufactures its own stainless steel chimney liners. We do it in our own sheet metal shop right here in Pennsylvania, which means our warranty is backed by the same company that built the liner — not a chain of distributors and overseas manufacturers. You can see what previous customers have said about working with us on our reviews page, and our project gallery shows the kind of work we do across the region.
We’re licensed and insured in Pennsylvania, fully equipped to handle everything from routine inspections and cleanings to full chimney rebuilds and related home services including roofing, sidewalk and step repair, and foundation parging.
Schedule Pre-Holiday Service
If your chimney isn’t ready for heavy holiday use, the time to address it is now. We’re booking pre-holiday inspections and cleanings through November, and slots fill up fast. Once the season starts, we’re mostly responding to emergencies rather than doing preventive work — and emergencies cost more, take longer, and arrive at worse times.
A pre-holiday inspection and cleaning gets you the foundation you need to enjoy the season without worrying about whether the chimney is doing its job. Add a cap inspection, a quick check on the overall condition of the chimney structure, and verification that everything is ready for the heaviest use of the year.
We serve homeowners across Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Gouldsboro, Dupont, Hawley, Moscow, Stroudsburg, the Poconos, and the surrounding NEPA region. Licensed and insured in Pennsylvania. Stainless steel liners manufactured here. Pre-holiday service available.
Call 1-800-943-1515 or request a free quote online to schedule. Want to save while you’re at it? Check our current discount offer for up to 70% off qualifying services.
From our family at Spring Hill Chimney to yours, here’s to a safe and warm holiday season.