Do I need to keep a spark screen over my wood-burning fire pit or outdoor fireplace while it's burning?
Yes — out around Mars Hill, plenty of Spring Creek and Gabriels Creek homes run on propane and burn wood, so outdoor wood fires are the norm and each one needs its spark screen on the whole time it's lit. This is one of the colder corners we serve, the fire season runs long, and the wooded rural lots keep dry litter close at hand.
Rural, wooded, and propane-fed
The valleys around Mars Hill and Forks of Ivy are wood-heat country — big lots, plenty of trees, propane where there's no gas main. That means real wood fire pits, and real ember risk from the leaf beds and pine straw those wooded lots shed. Keep the spark screen seated over the fire, clear a wide ring down to bare ground or stone, and set the pit well back from the house, barns, and the brush line. Softwood pops harder than cured hardwood, so if you're burning pine, expect more sparks and keep the screen firmly in place.
University rentals need it too
Closer to Mars Hill University, rental turnover means outdoor pits get used by people who don't own the place and won't tend it carefully. If you're a landlord, make the screen a permanent fixture and keep the pit on non-combustible footing away from the building. Madison County posts burn bans in dry stretches — no wood fire when one's up, tenant or not. And a spark-free propane [gas fire pit](/services/gas-fire-pit-installation) is the low-worry option: no embers, instant shutoff. Connecting propane outdoors is licensed work we permit with Madison County. We're about 30 minutes north — (828) 545-0525.
Long cold season, more burns
At this elevation the outdoor-fire window is wide, which simply means more evenings of exposure and more nights the screen has to do its job. Never leave a wood fire burning while you step inside, keep a hose or extinguisher close by, and when you're done, soak and stir the coals until nothing's warm to the touch — a banked fire can hold heat for hours after the flames die down.
Fireplace help in Mars Hill
We install and service fireplaces throughout Mars Hill and the rest of Madison County — just 30 minutes north from our Asheville-area showroom.