Everyone is getting excited for Santa’s yearly visit, but is your chimney ready? Your chimney might be a ticking time bomb if you haven’t had a visit from an even more important chimney visitor, a chimney sweep.

Aside from soiling Santa’s suit, dirty chimneys are prime offenders in some of the most destructive fires in the country. When wood is burned, the smoke produced leaves a residue on the inside of your chimney; if this residue is allowed to build up, it produces a sticky, black substance known as creosote.