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The first week of October is National Chimney Safety Week

As people are preparing to light up their fireplaces - many are taking the time now to make sure their chimneys are safe.

With the colder months ahead, curling up in front of a cozy fireplace doesn't sound like a bad idea ,but is your chimney ready for that? 

As people are preparing to light up their fireplaces, many are taking the time now to make sure their chimneys are safe.

"The heat and the air conditioning has been on now we we're going to furnaces and using wood burners and so forth so it's a good time to talk about those things," said Private Sterling Rahe, the public information officer Toledo Fire.

When it comes to chimneys you should be aware of many things before you lit up your fireplace. Toledo fire department encourages those to call professional help if you have any questions about your chimney. 

"I recommend at least an annual check up if anything take a flashlight look up your own chimney and see what you see and if it something that scares you I don't scare us," said Tom Best the owner of Tiny Tom Chimney Sweep.

Best has been in the chimney business for over 40 years and he tells what to watch out for. 

"Maintenance is good to do but it's the the cracks missionary issues one of the biggest problems that we see that the cracks inside the flu tail-liners. Do you have a missionary chimney or if you have a metal chimney there could be part of the pipe that or not? Connected correctly anymore and that can cause a heat to come out or flames to come out to an area where it shouldn't be," said Best. 

They also recommend a carbon monoxide detector installed in your home to help prevent disaster.

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