We love whiling away the hours in front of a roaring fire. There is something so relaxing and peaceful about it. Often our main concern is how to start said fire in the first place, but it’s equally important to know how to extinguish your fire correctly. Using a fireplace or log burner incorrectly can damage it at best and cause fires at worst so doing this part right is essential.

In this article we’ll cover a few areas:

• How to put out the fire in your fireplace
• How to put out the fire in your log burner
• What to do if you need to put your fire out quickly
• Why you shouldn’t use water
• Safety advice when leaving your log burner or fireplace burning overnight

Putting the log fire out in your fireplace

Putting your fireplace fire out safely is important, so follow this easy guide to be sure you are doing it correctly:

1. Stop putting fuel on the fire – When you are getting close to the time when you’d like to stop using the fireplace, make sure you stop adding fuel to the fire. This will make it easier when it comes to putting it out.
2. Spread the wood and embers – Using a fire poker carefully spread the wood and embers to flatten them out. This will help to cool down the fire.
3. Put the cool ash over the wood and embers – Using a fireplace shovel, scoop up the cooling ash and dump it over the wood and embers. Repeat this until the fire is fully extinguished.
4. Add a layer of baking soda – Sodium bicarbonate is one of the ingredients in some fire extinguishers. You could also use sand but that tends to be a lot messier!
5. Keep a short vigil – Monitor your fireplace for five minutes to ensure it doesn’t reignite.
6. Clean away the ash – Once the ash has completely cooled you can remove it using your fireplace shovel. You should store the cool, excess ash in a metal ash container. Do not store it near anything combustible.

Putting out the log fire in your log burner

Follow these simple steps to ensure you are putting out your log burner fire safely and effectively:

1. Shut the doors – Ensure the doors of your log burner are securely shut.
2. Close the vents – Close all the air vents, this will starve the fire of oxygen. Wait until the fire has died down and only the embers are glowing.
3. Spread the embers and wood/coal – Using a heat-resistant glove or fireplace shovel spread the embers, wood and/or coal so that it flattens. Make sure your chimney damper is open fully otherwise you may get engulfed in smoke.
4. Spray water or baking soda on top – Lightly spray water or sprinkle baking soda over the embers. This will put your fire out completely.
5. Shut the door – Shut the door again to allow the ashes to cool.
6. Clean away the ashes – Once cooled you can safely clean away the ashes and dispose of them as you would with a fireplace fire.

How to put your fireplace or log burner fire out quickly in an emergency.

The first thing you should know is that you should never throw water over the fire. Extinguishing a fireplace or log burner fire with water will create a huge amount of smoke and could also cause burns from the steam. If you urgently need to put the fire out then you should use either a fire extinguisher or a fire blanket. Instructions for these may differ so make sure you are familiar with how to use it in case of an emergency.

If you are unable to put out the fire or the fire is already out of control then call the fire brigade immediately!

Can I leave my fireplace or log burner burning overnight?

The short answer is no. It is never advisable to leave a fire, particularly one that is inside your house, unattended. Aside from the obvious risk of house fire, leaving your fire burning overnight will create a lot of smoke which will make your chimney dirty. This could cause all manner of expensive problems in the future. Your best bet is to fully extinguish your fire using our guide so you can sleep soundly and safely at night.