Old gas pipe

[silver16]

Hey all. So I recently bought this 70s condo and the fireplace has an old connector for a gas pipe. There's absolutely no valve control to it(no panel, switch, or key) and based on the ash at the bottom of the fireplace and around it I'm more than sure it's not connected to a source.

That being said I'm wondering why it's still there. Is it something I should look at having removed?

 

[DAKSY]

"More than sure?" Do yourself a favor & grab a couple of 14" pipe wrenches.
Use them to crack open the cap at the inner end of the pipe to VERIFY that
the gas supply is NOT connected. If you get no gas flow through the opened
connection, after you wait a couple of minutes, you can cut it, or simply unscrew
the longer pipe.
If you DO have gas flow, you will need to determine where that section is fed from.

 

[BigJ273]

I would prob spend the money to have a gas person come out and fool with that. Just to be extra safe. But that’s me

 

[tebenhoh]

Are there other working gas appliances in the condo - cook stove, water heater, furnace, etc.? If so chances are better than not it MAY still be connected. It’s common to branch individual appliances off of your main service line from your gas meter. As BigJ and DAKSY mentioned, it should definitely be checked!

If it has been disconnected, you should be able to find the other end of that line which should also be capped, or have it’s own shutoff valve. If the line wasn’t purged when disconnected, there could still be gas in it. Bottom line, crack it open and check (with NO ignition sources nearby), and go from there.

If it were me, and I planned on using the fireplace, I’d definitely remove it… SAFELY!

 

[blades]

kinda looks like there a couple other parts in there ,what is that on the back wall? that must have had gas insert of some sort . leads me to suspect that it wood not have proper clearances behind the walls as well as the floor. i wood not use as is even if you remove pipe. Friend had a nasty experience with something a kin to that. to the tune of 10 grand -fire started inside the walls , 2 story ,by the time the fire department arrived,about 15 minutes, it was up into the second floor. no one hurt, but what a mess. i had a place also similar, i put a wood insert in it that worked ok. a wood fire gets a lot hotter than those gas log set ups which is likely what it was way back when.