I have been a firefighter for the city of Mercer Island for over 28 years. In that time, I have seen many fires with many different causes. One cause that I have seen all too often involves the improper discarding of fireplace ashes. Unfortunately, we recently faced another fire caused by the disposal of ashes.

When cleaning a fireplace or grill, take these steps:

1. Always place discarded fireplace ashes in a heavy metal container, moisten the ashes and cover the container with a tight-fitting metal lid. Never use a paper bag, a cardboard box or a plastic bag to store ashes. Never use a vacuum cleaner to pick up ashes. While this sounds obvious, it happens too often.

2. Ashes should be kept in that metal container outside, away from the house, to cool. The garage, house or deck are dangerous locations for ashes to cool.

3. After the ashes have cooled, it is necessary to find a suitable disposal site. Never dump fireplace ashes until they have had at least five days to cool.

Garden areas or flower beds are ideal locations to dump cooled fireplace ashes, allowing many nutrients to return to the soil. Make sure all dry leaves have been removed from the planting area before dumping your ashes. Do this away from the house and remember to moisten the area. Wooded areas should always be avoided.

Store the ashes in the metal can for at least a week if the only option you have for discarding ashes is the garbage can. Be sure to recheck them before putting them in the garbage can. Ashes may appear to be out, but on many occasions over the years, they have been the cause of a lot of grief.

Just remember to “can your ashes,” no matter what the source.

For more information, contact the Mercer Island Fire Department at (206) 275-7607.