The RIGHT Way to Dispose of Your Fireplace’s Ashes

9/11/2020 (Permalink)

A garage that had caught fire due to fireplace debris in trash can

Do you have a wood burning fireplace in your home? How do you dispose of the ashes and burnt firewood left behind? Do you take the necessary precautions to ensure all of the ashes and firewood are extinguished? Or, do you just toss them in your garage trash can and forget about it? Well, this photo you see here is someone’s garage that did not take the necessary precautions to ensure the ashes and firewood were extinguished. The ashes were dumped in the garage trash can and as a result, the whole garage went up in flames. Luckily, nobody was injured and the fire was put out before the entire house was affected. SERVPRO of Western O’Fallon/Wentzville was able to quickly arrive to the scene and help salvage as much of the garage’s contents as possible before it was too late. This situation could have been avoided by properly disposing of the fireplace’s charred remains. Those who are now wondering what the right way to dispose of your ashes is, this is for you. What I have listed below are the necessary steps to ensure the fireplace’s remains will not catch anything around it on fire.

1. Allow the ashes and wood to cool down before removing them from your fireplace.
2. Take a metal bucket and shovel and begin scooping the debris from the fireplace to the bucket.
3. Pour water into the bucket of debris.
4. Keep the bucket of debris outside at a safe distance from your home until garbage day.
5. On garbage day, pour the water out of the bucket and then pour the extinguished debris into your trash can.

If you follow these steps, you and your family can rest assured that the ashes from that fire you just had are going to remain extinguished and that you remain safe.