BOONE, N.C. — As temperatures continue to drop in the mountains, many are lighting up their fireplaces to generate some heat. That can create problems if you're not careful.

Chance Frederick has been a chimney sweep for three years. He moved to Boone from Charlotte with his fiance and was looking for a career change. Now, he works for Tristan's Chimney Service. It's his job to make sure his customers are safe.

"It is definitely dangerous not knowing how your fireplace is or how it is going," Frederick said.

He looks for cracks in bricks, warping that could be dangerous and clears out creosote that could cause a fire.

"The product you use to start the fire is basically encasing the entire chimney," Frederick said.

He says every year they are called to homes where they have had a fire because it wasn't clean. At one home he wasn't able to clean it, the pipes were rusted shut.

"This definitely could be full of creosote," Frederick said.

The gasket on the door was not sealed.

"Gives smoke the opportunity to exit the stove into the room," Frederick said.

At a chimney located inside a yurt outside, he found a lot of buildup.

"Wood's purest fuel, so it could be rebaked and rebaked and rebaked until that moment when it catches," Frederick said.

He was able to clean it before a fire happened. He says it's not just what you can see that's dangerous. He found voids in pipes where creosote could be hiding that were only seen by a camera inside.

Those pipes now need to be replaced, which is a reminder, he says, that your chimney needs to be cleaned yearly because you never know what kind of risks are inside.

"It's wood's purest form of fuel," Frederick said.

With so many people needing sweeps during the winter, they say it is important to reach out as soon as possible or do a sweep in the summer. This way you know it is ready for the moment that cold weather hits.