Fireplace Woes

[911Restoration]

Lit our fireplace for the first time this season last night and the whole living room filled with smoke, alarm went off. Chimney was cleaned last year I think? Is this normal for the first fire or is something wrong. Kind of freaked out to try again tonight.

[fejog]

Smoke filling the room on a first fire is almost always one of two things: cold flue (chimney air column hasn't warmed up, not drafting properly) or damper not fully open / debris blocking the flue even after a cleaning. Before your next fire, hold a lit match or rolled newspaper near the damper for a minute to warm the flue before lighting. Also double check the damper is fully open. If smoke still rolls back, stop using it and get a chimney sweep back out — a cleaning doesn't rule out a later blockage.

[user_wa09]

I had a similar issue with smoke coming back into the room, even though the chimney had been cleaned recently. I'm wondering if a blocked flue or poor draft could be causing it. I'd definitely have it inspected before trying another fire.