Make sure the Fire Place you want to burn logs in is a Real One.

Yes believe it or not every year homes are destroyed when people try to burn logs in ornamental fire places  they think are real.
As a firefighter I saw this happen several times in communities around me.
 The home I grew up in had a fake fireplace  but you could easily tell there was no flue .
 However some fire places which where designed for gas logs only look like they could be used as a fire place and people have lost there homes trying so.
Take the home I responded to in the Rosedale section of Penn hills .
A family was behind on there bills and had there gas turned off. It got cold and they decided to use the fireplace in there home only problem it was only designed for gas logs not wood. But they tried anyways . They lighted the fire and it seemed to work the flue taking the smoke away ,but after an hour some of the bricks started spalling off. They thought it was just old bricks as they went to hardware store to get cement to fix it the home caught fire . The flue was designed for gas logs not extremely hot temperatures wood burning presents. The small capped off gas pipe should have clued them off but they ignored all good commonsense  and went and lighted the fire.

You should always be suspicious of any fire place you find in a home like in the picture above a couple found when they went to remodel this home  even thou it looks like it can be used for wood do not let it fool you it is meant for gas logs. I have even seen people try and use wood in newer  artificial  log fire places which are clearly marked not to do so but they try it any ways the result usually disastrous . Before you try burning wood  or coal in any fire place for the first time  make sure it can be done so by contacting a professional chimney sweep who can inspect it and make sure it can be done so safely and always have a chimney checked out by a professional every heating season .
 How many times I have also been to fires where it was a working fire place but the chimney liner had cracked over the summer months and when it was used after a couple days  a fire in the chimney resulted when heat got to the interior wood of the home .

A fireplace can make for a romantic evening or major disaster if the rules are not followed.
 The following link provides Fireplace safety rules.

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev/heating/fireplace.shtm