(WENY) -- In the middle of winter, many people use old fashioned wood to heat their home.  But that source of warmth could put you out in the cold if your chimney catches fire.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, chimneys cause over 4,000 residential fires each year.  Experts from Southern Tier Chimney Sweeps say getting your chimney cleaned and inspected just once a year can make all the difference when it comes to safety.

"If you don't get your chimney cleaned, the creosote will build up and you'll basically get a layer of combustible material.  Then, when you have a hot enough fire, that creosote is combustible, and it will basically burn from the bottom up and that's how you get your flew fires, your chimney fires, and your house fires," said Carson Prince, a chimney technician with Southern Tier Chimney Sweeps.

Prince recommends burning hard and dry wood for fires, which prevents the buildup of creosote.  Winter is typically the time we think about these fires happening, but the fire department says chimney fires can happen at any time of year.

"If you haven't had your chimney inspected for this season, you can still get it done. If it hasn't been inspected in a while, there's a much greater risk of chimney fires, and they can happen at anytime. Even if you had your chimney inspected for this season, something could occur like [birds] building a nest, if you've been gone for a week inside the chimney, that could cause a chimney fire. So, its important that you keep an eye on it," said Assistant Fire Chief Dirk Wheeler from the Town and County Fire Department.

Having a cap on chimneys can prevent animals, moisture, or random debris from making its way into the flue.  Prince says inspections and cleanings only take about an hour and a half, and you never know what could be inside the chimney.

"That's why we scan our chimneys after cleaning them. You don't know what's up there until you actually get the scope up there. We do scope every time to make sure you don't have combustibles or something random up there," said Prince.

It's recommended that you get your chimney cleaned once a year, or after burning a cord of wood.