Hello everybody. New guy here and new to wood burning in the house. My wife and I moved into our new house a couple of weeks ago. I have been eager to get the fireplace going the whole time, and this weekend provided some low nighttime temps in Kentucky. I got up in the attic to check everything out. That's when I noticed a couple of things. Number one, there is no firestop in the attic. I can look 2 stories down to my fireplace. The chimney chase is entirely in our great room with its back to the master bedroom on the first floor and my daughter's bedroom on the second floor. I figure it doesn't need a firestop between the floors since it doesn't pass through them, but it definitely needs one in the attic. Do I need to build out an area around the metal firestop and cover it with drywall or something?
Also, it looks like when they cut the hole for my chimney to exit that some roof debris fell down on top of the fireplace. See the pictures. Do I need to get that off of there? Going to be hard to get down in there, but I will do it if it makes it safer for my family. I really am nervous about a fire in the house, especially with my daughter's rooms upstairs. I freak out thinking about getting to them if a fire is in the attic or upstairs. I just really want to do this all as safe as possible. Please, any input would be helpful.
Also, it looks like when they cut the hole for my chimney to exit that some roof debris fell down on top of the fireplace. See the pictures. Do I need to get that off of there? Going to be hard to get down in there, but I will do it if it makes it safer for my family. I really am nervous about a fire in the house, especially with my daughter's rooms upstairs. I freak out thinking about getting to them if a fire is in the attic or upstairs. I just really want to do this all as safe as possible. Please, any input would be helpful.