Family Fireplace Care from Woodland Hills
Woodland Hills first, then the towns around it
Each town page says what we check first there and what a parent can look at between visits.
Why Woodland Hills Comes First
Woodland Hills is where Family Home Chimney Experts is based, so it gets the first slots of the day. Calabasas is a few minutes west on the 101, Encino and Sherman Oaks are east along Ventura Boulevard, and Simi Valley is over the pass to the north. Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena are longer drives, so we group those visits.
Wherever the house is, the visit starts the same way: we ask who lives there. A crawling baby, a dog that sleeps on the hearth, or a fireplace in a bedroom each change what we look at first. Every town page below says what we tend to check first there, and what a parent can look at between visits.
our home base at the west end of the Valley
Woodland Hills
Woodland Hills is where Family Home Chimney Experts is based, and a lot of the houses here were bought for the yard and the family room. That family room usually has the fireplace in it, which means toddlers walking past the hearth, dogs napping on it, and a fire most cold weekends. We check the screen and the hearth edge with that in mind.
the hills just past our Woodland Hills base on the 101
Calabasas
Calabasas is next door to us, a few minutes west on the 101. Many families here have a gas fireplace or a factory-built box with a glass front. That glass gets hot enough to burn a small hand, so we check that the mesh barrier screen is on and fits, and we show parents where the hot zone ends.
east of us along Ventura Boulevard
Encino
Encino lots are big enough that a family may have a living room fireplace, a den fireplace and an outdoor fire feature where the kids roast marshmallows. We go through each one, and the list we leave says which one is fine for tonight and which one should wait.
over the Santa Susana Pass in eastern Ventura County
Simi Valley
Simi Valley is a short drive over the pass from Woodland Hills. Plenty of the tract houses here have a factory-built fireplace that has been in the family room since the house went up, and families with young kids often add a gas insert. We check the glass barrier on any insert and the clearances around the old box.
the middle of the Valley, south of the 101 and up into the hills
Sherman Oaks
In Sherman Oaks we see a lot of prefab fireplaces in houses that families have remodeled around. A new hearth or built-in shelving can crowd the clearances the fireplace was made with. We measure what sits near the opening, and the list tells you if a toy bin or a dog bed is too close.
the City of Los Angeles, which Woodland Hills is part of
Los Angeles
Woodland Hills is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles, so an LA address is often close to home for us. Most of our LA calls come from the Valley side: Canoga Park, Reseda, Northridge, Tarzana. The question we hear most is simple: is it safe to light the fireplace with the kids in the room?
a freeway town below Ladyface Mountain
Agoura Hills
About 8 in 10 Agoura Hills households own their place, and many of those houses tuck a metal flue behind framing where nobody can see it. That leaves a parent needing a camera to learn whether the pipe is sound.
a streetcar-era suburb in the western San Gabriel Valley
Alhambra
Alhambra filled in as a streetcar suburb, so about a third of its homes are from before 1950. A flue that old can carry hairline cracks, and with more than half of households renting, many families have never seen inside theirs.
large-lot neighborhoods beneath the San Gabriel Mountains
Arcadia
On Arcadia's big-lot streets, a 1950s ranch chimney can stand near a house finished only lately. One family needs old masonry checked and the other needs to learn a new fireplace, and neither should guess with children in the room.
a compact city of ranch tracts along the 91
Artesia
Plenty of Artesia ranch houses took an old brick or block chimney and dropped gas logs into it. That swap does not fix the flue above, so a family using those logs still wants to know the path out is clear and whole.
Santa Catalina Island's lone incorporated city, above the bay
Avalon
Half the homes in Avalon predate 1950, tucked into a tight canyon with neighbors close by. An old cottage chimney that sheds smoke badly can affect the next house as well as your own, so what happens inside that flue matters.
a foothill city where the A Line meets Citrus Avenue
Azusa
Bungalows close to Citrus Avenue and Foothill Boulevard reach back to the town's first years, while most of Azusa arrived after the war with brick or block chimneys. Both can be fitted with gas logs that hide what the flue has become.
a former citrus and walnut town turned tract suburb
Baldwin Park
Orchards here turned to tracts fast after the war, so a whole Baldwin Park street of chimneys can share one age. Seven homes in ten predate 1980, and few parents have ever had theirs looked at from inside.
a dense, renter-heavy city in the southeast basin
Bell
Just one Bell household in four owns, so many parents here live with a chimney someone else maintains. Before lighting an old fireplace on a narrow lot, it is fair to ask the landlord what shape the flue is in.
former Dust Bowl farm plots along Florence and Garfield
Bell Gardens
Dust Bowl families built small houses on subdivided Bell Gardens farmland, and about 3 in 10 homes still predate 1950. With roughly 4 in 5 households renting, a fireplace here often belongs to someone the children never meet.
old dairy land named for an apple orchard
Bellflower
When dairy land in Bellflower filled with tracts, a brick or block chimney came standard, and plenty now hold gas logs. A family with a crawling baby should check both the flue above and the hot logs at floor level.
the Flats and Trousdale, below the Hollywood Fault
Beverly Hills
Much of the Flats in Beverly Hills dates from the 1920s and 1930s, so a beautiful Tudor or Spanish chimney can be nearly a century old. A nursery upstairs deserves the same camera check as any plain house, whatever the facade looks like.
a tiny gated foothill city with private roads
Bradbury
No big tracts shaped Bradbury, so each house has its own story and its own chimney, built for its owner in its own decade. Since nothing here can be assumed from the neighbors, a parent needs someone to look at this particular flue.
the east end of the Valley, below the Verdugo hills
Burbank
Burbank is across the Valley from us. Many homes here have a factory-built fireplace from the 1940s to the 1960s, and replacement parts have to match that unit. A missing glass door or a bent screen frame is a real safety problem in a house with small kids, not only a looks problem.
the old Owensmouth townsite, in the west Valley
Canoga Park
Canoga Park began as Owensmouth in 1912, and its oldest bungalows still stand a short trip from our base. Those brick chimneys took Northridge in 1994 from just a few miles away, so a family should not trust the outside alone.
a South Bay city of homeowners, refineries and an airship base
Carson
Most Carson families own, unusual for this part of the coast, so parents here hold the chimney decision themselves. An old masonry stack with gas logs dropped in is the usual setup, and the flue above still needs checking.
a tract suburb that began as Dairy Valley
Cerritos
Two-story stucco houses fill Cerritos, so the flue often climbs right past the children's bedrooms. Most went up around the 1970s, and a parent cannot tell from downstairs whether anything along that climb has opened up.
a college-town foothill city around a walkable Village
Claremont
Walk the Village and nearby Claremont streets and you pass Craftsman and Period Revival homes that may be well over a century old. Handsome brick from that era can hide worn mortar, which is a poor thing to discover with a toddler at the hearth.
an industrial city with a few small pockets of homes
Commerce
Commerce is mostly warehouses and plants, including the old Samson Tire wall at Citadel Outlets, with homes tucked into small pockets. Where a house there still has a chimney, it probably dates from the 1950s and its family deserves a look at the flue.
an old city hit hard in the 1933 earthquake
Compton
Three in ten Compton homes predate 1950, and the town was among the hardest hit in 1933. A chimney rebuilt or patched since then is still decades old, so a family that lights it should see what the inside looks like.
a citrus-era downtown and postwar suburb on Citrus Avenue
Covina
Three in four homes in Covina predate 1980, yet hardly any reach back before 1950, so the typical chimney is mid-century. With condos and apartments along the corridors too, a shared flue may also be part of the question for some families.
a small renters' city of narrow, deep lots by the river
Cudahy
Small farm plots explain those long Cudahy lots, and most households here rent, a very high share. A tenant cannot rebuild a chimney, yet any parent can ask for the flue to be looked at before the kids sit near a fire.
Harry Culver's 1913 town along Ballona Creek
Culver City
Culver City's bungalow streets grew in the 1920s, when chimneys were laid brick by brick and earthquake steel was no given. If the family fireplace sits in one of those homes, nobody should take the mortar and tile on faith.
old ranch land turned planned suburb at the 57 and 60
Diamond Bar
Half the houses on the old Diamond Bar Ranch are newer than 1980, and a metal fireplace in a framed chase is common. A family gets no brick to inspect with one of those, just a thin pipe behind a wall, so a look inside helps.
a tree-lined aerospace-era suburb in the southeast basin
Downey
Aerospace jobs built Downey's suburbs in the 1940s and 1950s, and those single-story ranch houses are now more than 60 years old. A low fireplace sits near where children play, so an unchecked flue is close to the family.
a Route 66 town tucked against the San Gabriels
Duarte
Citrus land in Duarte became suburb mostly from the 1950s through the 1970s, with hillside homes where the street climbs. Hillside or flat, the chimney has now outlived its first owners, and the family living with it deserves a look.
an old San Gabriel Valley town of small houses and rentals
El Monte
El Monte was settled in the 1850s, but most of what stands is small postwar housing, and 6 in 10 households rent. A family in a small rental with old gas logs still has a right to know the flue is doing its job.
a small beach-side refinery town on the South Bay shore
El Segundo
Most El Segundo units are apartments and condos, but the older houses often keep a 1920s to 1940s brick chimney. That era is the one most likely to suffer mortar wear and quake cracks, and a family under that flue should know its state.
old berry farm country, now a South Bay card-club town
Gardena
Berry fields here turned into tracts after the war, and small stucco ranches became the Gardena norm. A compact floor plan puts the hearth a few steps from the crib, so the condition of that flue is a daily family matter.
the foothill city just east of Burbank
Glendale
Glendale is the far east end of our map. A lot of homes here date from the 1920s, and a stucco chimney that old can look fine from the yard and still have cracked tiles inside. For a family that lights the fire, that is a carbon monoxide question, so the camera goes up before anything else.
foothill city on Route 66, known as the Pride of the Foothills
Glendora
Four in five Glendora houses are past 45 now, and those on the northern hillsides also face the brush. For a parent, an aging ranch flue and a nearby slope are two separate reasons to go up and look before lighting anything.
roughly a square mile, one of the smallest county cities
Hawaiian Gardens
Hawaiian Gardens squeezes a lot of households into about a square mile, and rentals are a large share of them. Where an older small house does have a working fireplace, a neighbor's window may be only a few yards from the chimney top.
the aviation-era home of the Beach Boys, on the boulevard
Hawthorne
With barely a quarter of its homes detached, Hawthorne has far more apartments than chimneys. In the bungalow and tract houses left from the aviation decades, a parent often rents the fireplace along with the house and inherits whatever the flue has become.
a pocket-sized beach city built around its pier
Hermosa Beach
Fewer than half of Hermosa Beach homes are detached, yet those older houses can keep 1920s to 1940s brick that cracks in a quake and wears at the joints. Living near the sand with small kids, a parent should hear the truth about that brick.
a guarded-gate ranch community just west of Woodland Hills
Hidden Hills
Landscape architect A.E. Hanson planned Hidden Hills from about 1950 as a ranch community, only a few miles from our base. More than 6 in 10 of those houses predate 1980, so even a beautifully kept home may have an aging flue.
a dense old streetcar suburb on the former Pacific Electric line
Huntington Park
Four Huntington Park homes in ten predate 1950, and many lots carry extra units behind the main house. A shared back wall can leave a neighbor's kids next to an old flue, so the question reaches beyond one family.
an industrial city with about 40 homes
Industry
The whole City of Industry has about 40 housing units, so percentages here are rough and each home is close to a special case. A family living in one should treat its chimney like any older house and have the flue looked at.
an 1880s townsite under the LAX approach
Inglewood
Sound insulation has sealed up plenty of Inglewood houses under the LAX flight paths. A tighter house can pull air down an old brick chimney when a fan runs, so a family may get smoke in the room with no crack at all.
gravel quarries and open land along the San Gabriel River
Irwindale
Gravel pits and plants fill most of Irwindale, leaving few homes for its roughly 1,400 residents. Those houses range from old masonry to factory-built units, so the right check depends entirely on which your kids sit beside.
big foothill homes under the Angeles Crest climb
La Canada Flintridge
Senator Frank Flint began the hillside estates here in the 1920s, and a quarter of homes are older than 1950. Owners occupy nearly every one, so La Canada Flintridge parents hold the keys to some very old fireplaces.
big-lot custom homes up in the Puente Hills
La Habra Heights
La Habra Heights is unusual for this county: a noticeable number of households, 1.4 percent, heat mainly with wood. A fire that burns all winter builds creosote quickly, and that matters when kids sleep upstairs from an old masonry chimney.
old olive ranch land, now a tract suburb with Biola
La Mirada
Andrew McNally's olive ranch became La Mirada's tracts in the 1950s and 1960s, typically with brick fireplaces. Three in four households own, so plenty of parents have inherited a chimney from the people who bought in the first place.
former walnut groves along Valley and Hacienda boulevards
La Puente
Walnut trees came down for La Puente's stucco tracts in the postwar boom, and most homes here are that age or older. On one floor with a modest lot, the living room fire and the nursery are practically neighbors.
the old Lordsburg, at the east end of the valley
La Verne
Founded as Lordsburg, La Verne mostly filled in with tracts from the 1960s to the 1980s, so brick and factory-built units sit a street apart. A parent needs to know which one is in the den before deciding how to keep the kids safe around it.
an early mass-produced suburb, built almost all at once
Lakewood
A whole city went up in about three years around 1950, built by Weingart, Boyar and Taper, the story D.J. Waldie told in Holy Land. Lakewood chimneys of one age on a whole block mean what happens on one may be coming for the rest.
the Antelope Valley's old railroad stop, up in the high desert
Lancaster
Growth really took off in Lancaster from the 1980s, so masonry is the exception here and a metal flue the rule. That thin pipe needs a sound cap and clean sections, since a family's safety rests on parts nobody sees from the couch.
a South Bay city of narrow lots, along the 405
Lawndale
Roughly 6 in 10 Lawndale households rent, often in duplexes or small multi-unit properties on tight lots. If that older house has a working fireplace, a parent is entitled to ask who last looked at it and what they saw.
a railroad-museum city near the Palos Verdes Peninsula
Lomita
Half of Lomita's homes are houses, half something else, and around 8 in 10 of all of them predate 1980. Most of those detached places carry brick from the postwar decades, the sort of thing a parent assumes is solid until someone looks.
a big coastal city from Naples canals to Bixby Knolls
Long Beach
Chimneys on older Long Beach houses were often damaged or rebuilt after 1933, so a brick stack here may not be as old as the house around it. A parent cannot know which kind they have without a camera and a little detective work.
old dairy land near St. Francis Medical Center
Lynwood
Nearly half of all Lynwood homes predate 1950, one of the oldest housing mixes around here. A chimney from that era has been through plenty, and a family in the house today is trusting work done long before anyone now alive there was born.
a long fire-tested stretch of coast and canyon
Malibu
After Woolsey and Palisades, many rebuilt Malibu homes skipped wood-burning masonry for a modern gas fireplace. A hot glass front is a different hazard from a smoky flue, and a family moving into a new house here needs the barrier screen in place.
Sand, Hill, Tree and El Porto by the ocean
Manhattan Beach
Small Manhattan Beach cottages from after 1900 are being replaced by tall houses on the same narrow lots. Those new places usually run factory-built gas units, while a surviving cottage may still have masonry, so a parent's checklist depends on the age of the house.
a nearly built-out city by the Los Angeles River
Maywood
Hardly any new homes go up in Maywood, and 44 percent of what stands predates 1950. Roughly 7 in 10 households rent, so a mother in one of those old houses may be living with a brick chimney nobody has opened up in years.
a canyon-side foothill town with a Metro rail stop
Monrovia
Monrovia is close to evenly split between owners and renters, and more than a quarter of homes date from before 1950. South of the old center, postwar tracts have their own aging flues, so no neighborhood here gets to skip the question.
old oil field and farm country on the valley's west edge
Montebello
Farmland here became a suburb after the 1917 oil boom, leaving bungalows in Montebello's oldest areas. With about 84 percent of homes older than 1980, a parent usually lives with a chimney that nobody in the family saw built.
hillside streets just east of Los Angeles, near East LA College
Monterey Park
Hillside ranch houses of the 1950s and 1960s give Monterey Park its look, with condos filling in later. Roughly half of families own, and a slope-side chimney is hard for any parent to inspect without a ladder they should not be climbing.
owner-occupied tracts at the 5 and 605 crossing
Norwalk
Stucco ranch streets cover most of Norwalk, and the great majority of its homes predate 1980. A fireplace used only for the holidays can sit unchecked for years, then get a big Christmas fire in an old flue.
planned desert neighborhoods against the mountains near the fault
Palmdale
Very few Palmdale homes are older than 1980, so a metal flue is the common setup across Anaverde, Rancho Vista and the like. Older masonry ranches do survive, and the two types need different checks, even though children are burned the same way by either.
the Olmsted-planned peninsula city from Malaga Cove to Lunada Bay
Palos Verdes Estates
The Olmsted Brothers firm planned this city for Frank Vanderlip's peninsula project in the 1920s, and early Palos Verdes Estates homes wear stucco and red tile. Tile roofs make the chimney harder to reach, and a family should not send anyone up there casually.
the old hay market town beside the Hay Tree
Paramount
Paramount once ran a major hay market, and its Hay Tree still stands as a symbol. Most households rent now, and a family in an older one-story place with a brick fireplace should get a straight answer about it before lighting a log.
the older foothill city east of Glendale
Pasadena
Pasadena is a long drive from Woodland Hills, so we group visits there. Many homes are about a century old, with open hearths and no glass at all. For a family with a toddler, a sturdy freestanding screen and a hearth gate are the first conversation, before we talk about the brick.
two old farm towns joined by a tract boom
Pico Rivera
Pico and Rivera were separate farm towns before tract housing merged them in the 1950s, and about 7 in 10 households own today. Brick from that decade has reached an age where it is fair to wonder what a first look inside might show.
antiques and adobes at the east end of the basin
Pomona
Lincoln Park and Wilton Heights hold Pomona's old brick chimneys, while later neighborhoods run factory-built units. A homeowner with young kids should know which kind is behind the screen, because brick cracks and a metal box overheats.
a fog-cooled peninsula with shifting ground in places
Rancho Palos Verdes
Evacuations and utility cuts have followed land movement in Portuguese Bend, a hazard few places share. Ground that shifts can crack a chimney without any earthquake, so a Rancho Palos Verdes family near it should take any new gap in the masonry seriously.
an 1890s port and resort town, now condos and hills
Redondo Beach
North Redondo's postwar houses may hold original masonry, and Hollywood Riviera hillside homes have their own view-side chimneys. Near the shore, many condos and townhomes depend on shared systems, so ask who owns the flue before a family fire.
a gated horse community with private roads
Rolling Hills
Developer A.E. Hanson set out this place in the 1930s for horses and gates, and big one-story ranch houses remain the Rolling Hills norm. A large ranch often means a large old fireplace, and a family with grandkids should know whether its flue is sound.
a peninsula town above the South Bay near the Promenade
Rolling Hills Estates
About 8 in 10 homes in Rolling Hills Estates predate 1980, and the 1950s to 1970s gave them their ranch and custom lines. A remodel may have added a gas unit in one room while older masonry stays in another, and a parent needs answers on both.
home of Edison, near the 1987 Whittier Narrows center
Rosemead
Most Rosemead units are detached stucco houses on modest lots, though renters are numerous. Whatever the lease says, a family under a chimney near the 1987 epicenter should find out how that flue came through.
an old citrus railroad town under San Dimas Canyon
San Dimas
San Dimas started as an 1887 railroad citrus town, but most homes came during the big suburban push of the 1960s to the 1980s. Old Town chimneys and later ones have aged differently, so parents should not lean on what a neighbor learned.
a small independent city inside the north Valley
San Fernando
Shaking in 1971 and 1994 means plenty of old San Fernando chimneys have likely been rebuilt or replaced, sometimes more than once. A family has no way of knowing how well that was done without a look, and bungalows leave little space between hearth and bed.
the old mission town with its 1927 Playhouse
San Gabriel
Nearly 4 in 10 homes in San Gabriel predate 1950, on the Spanish Revival and Craftsman streets near the mission. Unreinforced brick from then is the kind quakes break most easily, and a parent should not stack the Thanksgiving fire on it without a look.
estate lots around Lacy Park and El Molino Viejo
San Marino
Homes from before 1950 make up 7 in 10 in San Marino, and many have more than one fireplace, frequently original brick or stone. A parent may be raising kids under three different unreinforced flues, each with its own history.
Newhall, Canyon Country and tracts up the 5
Santa Clarita
Most Santa Clarita homes are stucco with a factory-built or gas fireplace, and metal flues wear differently than brick does. A family with hot glass in the den needs a barrier screen and a look at that flue, more than any mortar talk.
an industrial oil town with residential pockets
Santa Fe Springs
Oil built Santa Fe Springs, and industry still dominates, so its houses sit clustered in pockets, mostly from the 1950s and 1960s. Chimneys from those years are past 60 now, so a family in one of these pockets should check rather than assume.
a city of renters, stretching from Ocean Park north past Montana
Santa Monica
Apartments far outnumber houses in Santa Monica, and Northridge cracked many chimneys here in 1994. A family renting an older building with a fireplace should ask directly whether it was repaired, while a North of Montana owner should see the flue for themselves.
an old village at the foot of Bailey Canyon
Sierra Madre
Founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1907, Sierra Madre still feels like a village, with small lots and steep streets toward the canyon. Old chimneys may have little steel inside, so a parent on one of those streets needs more than a look from below.
a small hilltop city surrounded by Long Beach
Signal Hill
Long Beach surrounds Signal Hill on every side, and from the 1980s on, redevelopment brought condos, townhomes and hilltop homes. Many of those have metal flues and caps that wear unlike brick, and a parent in one should know how it was put together.
a tiny 1958 city very close to the 1987 epicenter
South El Monte
Single brick chimneys top the small ranch homes of South El Monte, often with some steel inside, but decades old now. Whittier Narrows was centered very close in 1987, so that steel does not settle the matter for a family with young kids.
Hollydale and factory-era streets in the southeast basin
South Gate
Big factories drew South Gate's working families after it incorporated in 1923, and about 47 percent of today's homes predate 1950. Those houses often mean brick with little reinforcing, which is the type a parent has the most reason to check.
the south edge of the Valley below Mulholland
Studio City
Studio City is east of us along Ventura Boulevard. Many houses here still have their original brick fireplace from the 1940s to the 1960s, often with an old folding screen that no longer closes all the way. A gap at the bottom of a screen is where a spark lands on the rug, or a curious cat gets in.
an 1888 town of old houses and many apartments
South Pasadena
Most of South Pasadena's housing went up between the 1890s and the 1930s, and fewer than half of units are detached. An old apartment or house may keep unreinforced brick, and a family living under it should find out whether it is still sound.
Camellia Festival country in the San Gabriel Valley
Temple City
Temple City blocks often mix a 1950s tract house and its one brick chimney with a much larger rebuild using gas. Two houses on one street can pose very different questions for parents, and neither is answered from the sidewalk.
a large South Bay city, Old Torrance out to the beach
Torrance
Old Torrance keeps the original small houses, but the rest of this big city filled in with 1950s and 1960s tracts. With about half of units detached, some families own a chimney outright and others share one, and each should know its state.
an industrial city with hardly any residents
Vernon
Industry was Vernon's whole purpose from the day it incorporated in 1905, and only about a hundred homes exist among the plants. Fireplaces are few for that reason, so if your family has one, treat it as a rare thing that deserves its own look.
suburban lots against the Puente Hills, east end of the valley
Walnut
Detached houses make up almost all of Walnut, and about 84 percent are owned, on suburban lots near equestrian trails. Half went up after 1982, so a parent may have factory-built metal in place of old brick, with a very different set of worries.
a large valley city rising into the South Hills
West Covina
West Covina climbs into the South Hills, where larger hillside homes went up from the 1960s onward. Fewer than 1 in 10 homes predate 1950, yet about 3 in 4 predate 1980, which is around when a flue begins asking for a look.
a dense renter city along Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood
Detached houses are about 1 in 11 West Hollywood homes, and renters are the large majority. A gas fireplace in a newer condo or an older apartment with brick is usually the building's job, though the family in the room still bears the risk.
a lake-centered town off Lindero Canyon Road
Westlake Village
Westlake Lake is the heart of this town, and the late 1960s and 1970s gave it most of its stucco houses and townhomes. Factory-built metal arrived about then, so a family may be living with a metal flue that is now about 50 years old.
a Quaker college town below the Puente Hills
Whittier
Quakers founded Whittier in 1887, and Uptown's Craftsman bungalows are among its oldest homes. The 1987 quake bears this city's name, and it damaged a lot of chimneys here, so a family's bungalow brick has a very specific history to check.
Oxnard Plain tracts and Spanish Hills near the outlets
Camarillo
Master-planned stucco tracts cover most of Camarillo, and Spanish Hills adds some larger homes. Half the housing dates from after 1982, so a metal flue is common, and it ages by heat and rust instead of cracking like brick.
a small river valley town of citrus and heritage trains
Fillmore
Citrus and rail built Fillmore, incorporated in 1914, and Northridge badly damaged its downtown in 1994. Homes here took that shaking too, so an older chimney deserves a careful look before a family lights it.
apricot country turned tract town, with a teaching zoo
Moorpark
Most Moorpark homes came after the city incorporated in 1983, in tracts like Peach Hill and Campus Park. Two-story houses with a factory-built fireplace downstairs and kids upstairs make the hidden metal flue the main thing to check.
a tangerine valley town below the Topatopa Mountains
Ojai
Downtown Ojai's cottages and Spanish homes can carry unreinforced brick, and ranch properties spread out toward the hills. On cold valley nights a fire can run for hours, so a family's flue may get more of a workout than in the basin.
strawberry fields, a sugar beet past and a harbor
Oxnard
Sugar beets built Oxnard from 1898, and tract housing makes up most of what stands today. Beach homes by the harbor add salt to the mix, so a parent in Oxnard Shores has different chimney concerns from one inland.
a small beach city by the old Hueneme wharf
Port Hueneme
Shoreline condo complexes dominate Port Hueneme, and only about one home in three stands alone. Those houses often have a single postwar brick chimney with some steel inside, and salty fog goes after it from the top down.
a mural town between South Mountain and the river
Santa Paula
Santa Paula's oldest homes often carry unreinforced brick, the sort most easily hurt in a quake, while later tracts brought ranch houses. In Northridge's aftermath, a parent here cannot assume any older brick came through without at least a crack.
oak-lined valley suburbs from Dos Vientos to Lang Ranch
Thousand Oaks
Oaks protected by city ordinance frame the stucco tracts that make up most of Thousand Oaks, built from the 1960s to the 1990s. A brick postwar chimney and a later metal flue both can hide trouble, and those branches are not doing the cap any favors.
a coastal city under the Serra cross on Grant Park
Ventura
Downtown and Midtown Ventura carry some of the oldest chimneys around, on Victorian and Craftsman houses. If your kids sleep beside one of them, nothing short of a look along the flue says what those decades have done.
an attached-home planned city along Aliso Creek
Aliso Viejo
Half of Aliso Viejo's homes went up after 1995, and only about a third are detached. Expect a factory-built or gas fireplace in a townhome, and the family there may share responsibility for the flue with an association.
Disneyland-era tracts and Anaheim Hills stucco
Anaheim
Disneyland opened in 1955 and the big wave of Anaheim tracts came after it, with Anaheim Hills following later in larger stucco. A mid-century flue on the flats and a metal one up the hill are different jobs, and parents should know which they have.
Birch Street, Carbon Canyon and the Puente Hills
Brea
Brea runs from small older houses near Birch Street to La Floresta and Olinda Ranch, where stucco homes have factory-built or gas fireplaces. Each group needs its own look, and a parent in a new home may never have thought about what the glass does.
Knott's Berry Farm country along Interstate 5
Buena Park
Walter Knott's berry stand is the local legend, but Buena Park's real story is 1950s and 1960s stucco tracts with one brick chimney apiece. About 3 in 4 homes predate 1980, and that brick is now old enough to deserve a family's attention.
a mesa near Newport with the OC Fair and South Coast Plaza
Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa has plenty of apartments, and fewer than half of its homes are detached. Tract houses from the postwar years keep a single brick chimney, often with some steel, and a parent renting one should still ask how it has held up.
a northwest county city by Los Alamitos Race Course
Cypress
Cypress tract houses are mostly wood-framed stucco, with a chimney that rarely gets any thought. About 3 in 4 homes predate 1980, so a parent there may be lighting a flue that has gone decades without anyone looking inside.
a bluff-top harbor town named for Two Years Before the Mast
Dana Point
Bluffs and hillsides shape Dana Point, from the older Capistrano Beach houses to tracts from the 1970s on. Salt and shifting bluff ground both can loosen a chimney, so a family in one of these homes should check more often than one inland.
the former Talbert, near Mile Square Regional Park
Fountain Valley
Hardly any Fountain Valley homes predate 1950, so old-era brick is rare here, and about 4 in 5 went up before 1980. A two-story tract house means a flue passing near bedrooms, which is what a parent should think about first.
Leo Fender's town, around Hillcrest Park
Fullerton
Fullerton's preservation zones near downtown hold 1900s through 1930s houses that often have original brick. Those homes reward a family that looks after them, and a camera up the flue is part of that, especially with children nearby.
Strawberry Festival city, with Little Saigon and Little Seoul
Garden Grove
Single-story stucco ranches make up most Garden Grove neighborhoods, and about 77 percent of homes predate 1980. With every room on one floor, a leak in the flue is close to everyone, and an older ranch house needs its flue looked at.
a long surf city with harbor channels and wetlands
Huntington Beach
The 1960s and 1970s built most of Huntington Beach, with older cottages downtown and condos by the sand. A family in a harbor-side home or a tract near the coast faces salt on metal parts, so the cap is a good place to start.
Pereira's master-planned villages around UC Irvine
Irvine
Architect William Pereira's master plan guided Irvine from the 1960s on, and half the housing has gone up since 2002. Most families here have gas or factory-built units, and more of them rent than own, so hot glass and clear responsibility come first.
the pass through the hills, where the 2014 quake struck
La Habra
Citrus and avocado groves became La Habra's tracts mainly in the 1950s through the 1970s, with brick or block fireplaces likely in those stucco ranches. After the 2014 quake here, a parent should treat old masonry as guilty until a camera clears it.
a compact city that began as Dairyland
La Palma
La Palma started as Dairyland in 1955, and it remains a compact place under two square miles. Most homes are stucco tracts from the 1970s, and 8 in 10 went up before 1980, so a parent should ask what a half-century has done to the flue.
art colony cottages in the canyons above Main Beach
Laguna Beach
The art colony years, 1900s through 1930s, left cottages all over town and the canyons, usually with brick or stone chimneys. In Laguna Beach a beautiful old stack can also be a tired one, and a family with small kids should not guess which.
former Moulton Ranch land, with Nellie Gail's bridle trails
Laguna Hills
Stucco and tile tracts replaced the old Moulton Ranch during the 1970s and 1980s, and most Laguna Hills fireplaces are likely factory-built or gas. Masonry shows up mainly in early and custom homes, so a parent should find out what the family actually has before a season of fires.
hills a few miles from the ocean, beside the Ziggurat
Laguna Niguel
Cabot, Cabot and Forbes began planning Laguna Niguel in 1960, and half the housing went up after 1986. Your family may well have a factory-built unit and a hillside lot, which raises two questions: how sound is the flue, and how secure is the slope below it?
a retirement village city along Aliso Creek
Laguna Woods
Ross Cortese began building Leisure World here in 1964, and today's co-op and condominium manors grew from it. Grandkids visiting a Laguna Woods manor with a fireplace are the family angle, and the association usually holds the answers about any flue.
old El Toro and the newer foothill villages above it
Lake Forest
Lake Forest grew out of El Toro, with Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills mostly built in the 1990s, near the foothills. A metal or gas unit is the common fireplace, and a family there has to think about embers as much as anything indoors.
a compact town beside the former naval air station
Los Alamitos
A sugar beet factory in 1897 and then the military base made Los Alamitos a compact mix of tracts and apartments, and detached houses are only about 4 homes in 10. A chimney here is often a shared question, and renters with kids should ask about it.
a planned lake community in the Saddleback Valley
Mission Viejo
The Mission Viejo Company began planning this valley in the 1960s, and most stucco and tile homes date from the 1970s and 1980s. Half-century-old flues are a growing question, and a family on the lake or on a hill should look before trusting theirs.
harbor islands, the peninsula and Corona del Mar
Newport Beach
From Balboa Island to Corona del Mar, old cottages sit beside rebuilt luxury houses, sometimes on the same small lot. A cottage may have tired masonry and a rebuild may have a new unit, and a family needs to know which set of risks is theirs.
Old Towne's 1888 Plaza and the Eichler tracts
Orange
Old Towne Orange centers on an 1888 Plaza, while the Eichler tracts of Fairhaven and Fairmeadow bring mid-century modern design. That is a wide spread of chimney types within one city, and a family should find out what its own house actually has.
the pleasant place, with citrus-era streets in Old Town
Placentia
Citrus packing built Placentia, and Old Town's early houses likely have brick or block masonry. Later tracts lean to factory-built units, so a family needs to find out which is behind the hearth, because the risks and the checks are different.
a young foothill town built around its plaza and lake
Rancho Santa Margarita
Half of Rancho Santa Margarita went up after 1992, and older site-built masonry is rare here. A direct-vent gas unit is the likely setup, which means hot glass near a toddler, and that is where a parent's attention should go first.
a 1925 planned Spanish village above the ocean
San Clemente
In 1925 Ole Hanson laid out San Clemente as a planned Spanish village, and older homes may still have masonry. Later neighborhoods favor factory-built or gas units, so a family's chimney question depends on which side of town the house stands.
the swallow town, around the 1894 depot and old Mission
San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano has adobes in Los Rios and estate lots from later decades, a rare spread for one town. Some of those old fireplaces may be adobe or masonry, and a family living with such history should have a very careful look inside.
Floral Park, Fourth Street and the county's big center
Santa Ana
Floral Park is known for its 1920s and 1930s period revival homes, the sort of place where an old chimney gets loved and left alone. The 1933 quake damaged brick across Santa Ana, so a parent in one of these homes should learn what remains.
a pier town with Old Town cottages and Leisure World
Seal Beach
Leisure World co-ops from 1962 and Old Town cottages near Main Street make Seal Beach two different places for chimneys. Salt is the thing they share, and a parent or grandparent in either should check what it has done up at the top.
a tight city of attached homes along Beach Boulevard
Stanton
Detached homes are barely a quarter of Stanton, and much of the rest is apartments, condos and mobile homes. Plenty of those have no chimney to worry about, so where one exists, brick or block in an older house is the likely thing to check.
Old Town and Legacy, beside two 1942 blimp hangars
Tustin
Tustin Legacy brought new housing with factory-built or gas units onto the old air station, while Old Town has older places around Main Street. Detached houses are a third of the city's homes, so a family's fireplace may be part of a shared building.
a tiny home-only city with Orange and Anaheim Hills around it
Villa Park
Nine in ten Villa Park households own and nearly all houses are detached, built mostly around the 1970s. This little city is residential by design, and many of its fireplaces have now reached an age when a parent should ask for a look inside.
Little Saigon on Bolsa, and the Mendez v. Westminster case
Westminster
Detached tracts are a little over half of Westminster, with condos and apartments on the big boulevards, and about 3 in 4 homes predate 1980. In a house with small kids and one fireplace room, that age raises the stakes on the flue.
hills above the Santa Ana River, marked by the 2008 fire
Yorba Linda
By the city's count, the Freeway Complex Fire of November 2008 took 187 Yorba Linda homes, and eastern hillside lots still face wildland next door. A rebuilt house or an older one both need a flue and a cap that keep embers out while children sleep.
Wood Streets, Victoria Avenue and the Inland Empire's old citrus heart
Riverside
Old Craftsman and period revival homes line Riverside's Wood Streets, and Orangecrest and Canyon Crest added newer gas or factory-built units. A parent's first step is figuring out which era the house belongs to, then what that means for the flue.
a city of circles at the mouth of Santa Ana Canyon
Corona
Corona's Grand Boulevard hosted road races from 1913 to 1916, yet most homes today went up long after, and half date from after 1991. Factory-built or gas is the likely setup, so a parent there should think first about the glass and metal flue.
the county as a whole, mountains to Catalina
Los Angeles County
Most county land, roughly two-thirds, is unincorporated, including Altadena, Topanga and Hacienda Heights, and housing runs from hillside custom homes to towers. A family's chimney depends entirely on its corner of the county, so we start with the address and the age of the house.
inland valley, desert resorts and mountain towns across one county
Riverside County
Half of Riverside County's roughly 870,000 homes have gone up since about 1990, so a parent in Temecula or Menifee most likely has a factory-built or gas unit. Mid-century desert houses and Idyllwild's mountain homes raise their own separate questions, so one rule will not do.
34 cities from the coast to Santiago Peak
Orange County
Orange County spans the 1950s to the 2000s, as Rossmoor, North Tustin and Ladera Ranch show, with south county planned communities favoring factory-built or gas units. A coastal cottage and an inland planned home ask very different things of the parent looking after them.
Thousand Oaks to Ojai, under its own air district
Ventura County
Postwar tracts and newer planned homes define Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, while older houses and adobes with masonry survive in Ventura, Fillmore and Ojai. A parent's chimney question in this county is mainly a matter of which town and which decade.
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