WAGGA residents have been warned to think about what's coming out their chimneys before firing up this winter.
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Although wood heaters are a great source of warmth, the council's environment and city compliance manager Mark Gardiner asks residents to be cautious of the amount of smoke emitted by their fires.
"The smoke they produce can be a source of air pollution impacting on residents," he said.
Despite wood being a natural material, it can produce harmful particle pollution when burned, according to the state's Environment Protection Authority.
It is advised that if a person could see or smell smoke from their wood heater then they are causing a problem for themselves, family and neighbours.
Wagga City Council has been using a complaint system to monitors any households producing an excessive amount of smoke.
Mr Gardiner said it is often discovered that people are overloading the fire box, burning green or treated wood or minimising air control, which does not allowing the fire to burn brightly.
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The build up of soot in the chimney or flue is another common cause of large amounts of smoke.
Mr Gardiner said there are several ways to reduce the amount of wood smoke pollution including using dry, seasoned, untreated wood.
He suggested using small logs that are placed strategically to ensure air could circulate, burn the fire brightly and do not let heaters smolder overnight.
A leading authority of firewood has concerns people are using old railway sleepers in their wood heaters.
Firewood Association of Australia's general manager Dane McGreevy said people burn any material they get their hands on without taking the health risks into account.
He said old railway sleepers could contain Asbestos and be contaminated by herbicides, pesticides and oil.
"People might not think this is an issue, but when people clean the ash out of fires this is a perfect way to breathe in the fibres and get a lung full of Asbestos," he said.
"There is a lot of probability, but why take the risk."
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