Is Your Fireplace Safe to Use? A Tacoma Checklist Before You Light It

When cold, still air holds smoke close to the ground, the regional clean air agency declares a burn ban for Pierce County. Stage 1 means no fire in any open wood fireplace, and none in a stove or insert that lacks certification. Under Stage 2 the ban widens to every wood fireplace, every wood stove or insert whether certified or not, and pellet stoves. A household may burn anyway only when that appliance is its one adequate way to heat the house and an exemption was approved before the ban.

The reason for strictness here is historical. In 2009 the Tacoma-Pierce County area was found out of compliance with the federal fine-particle standard, and Washington Ecology identified wood smoke from home heating on cold, calm evenings as the main cause. According to EPA's later notice, residential wood burning made up 74 percent of direct fine-particle emissions on winter days at the time. The area was redesignated to attainment in 2015 and has followed a maintenance plan ever since.

Since October 1, 2015, operating an uncertified wood stove or insert has been illegal in the Tacoma-Pierce County Smoke Reduction Zone, and so has buying, selling or reinstalling one. Open fireplaces are not covered by that rule, although they are still off limits during a ban.

To identify a certified unit, the agency's advice is to hunt for an EPA compliance plate, usually fixed to the rear or a side panel. A door of plain steel, or twin glass doors, tends to signal an older uncertified model, and a 'UL Tested' plate is a safety listing, not an emissions certification. If your house sits near the edge of the zone, check the agency's map rather than assuming.

Work through these with the fireplace cold and a flashlight in hand. Any item in the right-hand column is a reason to wait for a professional look before lighting anything.

The Washington State Fire Marshal, citing the U.S. Fire Administration, reports that fires in chimneys, flues or fuel burners caused 77 percent of residential building heating fires in 2024. Deposits that line the flue are what those fires feed on, and most of the flue cannot be seen from the room. That is why NFPA 211 sets a yearly inspection as the baseline for every chimney, fireplace and vent, used often or not.

Fuel is the other half. Under the agency's rules the firebox may hold nothing but seasoned dry cordwood or manufactured logs; garbage, treated lumber, plastics and paper beyond what it takes to start the fire are all banned. Smoke from the chimney may not exceed 20 percent opacity for more than six minutes in any hour. Heavy smoke is usually a sign of wet wood, and wet wood is what leaves the thickest deposits.

Leave the fireplace unused until someone has looked inside the flue. An inspection visit is $99 plus tax; say yes to the written quote that follows and we subtract it from the job. If the problem is heavy deposits, the next step is usually a sweep or a creosote removal; if it is a cracked firebox or a damaged liner, the report will say so with photos before any repair is discussed.