City of Kamloops
Wood Burning Information
T
here is a particular sense of comfort that
comes from sitting in front of a warm, cozy
fire that is fuelled by either wood or natural
gas. While gas is often preferred for the
ease and cleanliness, the increasing cost of
energy may encourage many homeowners to
turn to wood to heat their homes. Although
wood is considered to be a renewable energy
that is relatively abundant and inexpensive,
it can have significant safety, health and
environmental impacts.
f you choose to burn wood, please be
responsible and burn it right! Following
proper wood burning techniques will help to
protect air quality, prevent nuisance concerns
from neighbours, and reduce safety risks.
I
Additional Tips for Safety
• Install smoke/heat detectors, and have a
good fire extinguisher nearby.
• Empty ashes into a metal container with
a tight-fitting lid. Keep the container off a
combustible floor.
• Never use a flammable liquid of any kind to
start a fire.
• Do not store dry wood near or under the
stove.
• Don’t leave the stove burning unattended
overnight, or when children are in the house.
• Never vent stoves into a flue already used to
vent another heating system.
• Do not leave stove doors open.
• Keep the fireplace screen closed to avoid
sparks from landing on the carpeting.
• Have a spark arrester on top of your chimney
to keep sparks from landing on the roof.
• Glass doors and stoves get very hot and a
screen or guard in front or around them is
recommended.
• Wood should be stored 10 m away from your
house.
• Keep your roof and gutters clear of
combustible materials.
Contact us.
General Inquiries
250-828-3461
For more information on the air quality forecast,
visit:
www.airhealthbc.ca
For more information regarding this brochure visit:
www.kamloops.ca
Wood
Burning
Information
www.kamloops.ca
City of Kamloops
Wood Burning Information
Steps to protect your health,
your family’s health, and that of
your neighbours:
Use a wood stove certified to CSA or EPA
standards for air emissions and safety.
An EPA-certified wood stove emits up to 70% less
particulate emissions and uses 30% less fuel.
Choose the right firewood. Hardwoods are
the best. Never burn wet, rotted, diseased, or
mouldy wood since they burn poorly and create
more pollution.
Season all firewood. Split, cover, and age
firewood for at least six months. Seasoned wood
burns hotter, cuts fuel consumption, and reduces
the amount of smoke a wood stove produces.
If you are going to burn wood. . .
. . .burn it right!
Never burn garbage or recyclables. In the past,
it used to be common to burn household garbage,
but today our garbage has a lot of chemicals
contained in plastics, papers, coatings, and inks.
The potential for chemicals to react together
when burned can result in unpredictable and toxic
results.
Clean ashes from the stove. Excess ashes can
clog the stoves air intake vents which will reduce
its efficiency.
Among the health risks associated with burning
garbage is the by-product dioxin.
Dioxin is a potential human carcinogen that is
particularly harmful to pregnant women, children,
and the elderly. As well, dioxin could cause
developmental, reproductive, and immunological
problems.
Never burn coated, painted, or pressure-treated
wood, ocean driftwood, plywood, particle board,
or any wood with glue on or in it because they all
release toxic chemicals when burned. Among the
many potential chemicals released, treated wood
has been associated with arsenic poisoning.
Wood stove and chimney maintenance. A dirty
chimney full of creosote is a chimney fire waiting
to happen. An annual inspection and maintenance
should be scheduled with a professional.
*All wood burning appliances
(stoves, fireplaces, inserts)
require a building permit
to ensure they are properly
installed and vented* This is
particularly important when
replacing an existing stove or
insert to ensure smoke will be
properly vented with your NEW
appliance*
Burn small, hot fires rather than large
smouldering ones. These fires provide the
maximum heat while cutting fuel consumption
and reducing air pollution.
Use the fireplace or wood stove for special
occasions. Fireplace fires are not an efficient way
to produce heat. The safest way to heat the house
and the cleanest for the air is through a central
heating system.
Never burn wood in a fireplace or insert that
was designed for gas. Gas fireplaces are not
built to handle wood fires. Burning wood in one
of these fireplaces could create a dangerous
situation.
Take care not to inhale. Breathing wood smoke
is not healthy. Wood smoke contains a mixture
of gases and fine particles that can reduce lung
function, cause burning eyes, runny nose, and
bronchitis. It can aggravate heart or respiratory
problems and trigger asthma in people of all
ages. Even limited exposure to smoke can be
harmful to the health of children, the elderly, and
those with chronic conditions.
Toxic air pollutants are an important component
of wood smoke and include harmful chemical
substances such as carbon monoxide (CO),
nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), dioxin, and inhalable
particulate matter. Air toxins known as polycyclic
organic matter includes potential carcinogens
such as benzo(a)pyrene.
One of the biggest . . .
human health threats from smoke, (indoors OR outdoors) comes from particulate matter. Wood smoke
particulate matter is composed of wood tars, gases,
soot, and ashes.
To help protect your indoor
air quality, only bring into
your home the amount of
wood needed for a day
to reduce the chance of
allergy-causing mould spores
circulating indoors.
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