Fireplace help for San Francisco and East Bay homes

Last updated October 28, 2026 · Reviewed by the Fireplace Helpline tech team

Gas emergency numbers in the Bay Area

• PG&E: 800-743-5000, or 911. PG&E says that if you smell gas or suspect an emergency, leave the area now and call 911, then call PG&E.

If your gas bill shows a different company's emergency number, use the number on your bill.

How Fireplace Helpline works in the Bay Area

We're a video service, not a local shop, and we don't have an office in the Bay Area. You book a call, point your phone at the fireplace, and a real fireplace tech guides you by voice. Many problems can be diagnosed, and often fixed, in one call. If yours needs hands-on work, tell us your ZIP code and we'll help you find a local pro.

Flat prices, shown before you book: Quick Fix $49 · Full Diagnostic $89 · Priority Fix $139.

A gas state with cool, damp evenings

64% of California homes heat mainly with natural gas and 20% with electricity (EIA, 2020). Around the Bay, a gas insert or log set gets switched on through much of the year on cool, foggy evenings rather than for deep cold, so a pilot that won't stay lit or a tired remote shows up any month.

Spare the Air days don't stop a gas fireplace

The Bay Area Air District's wood-burning rule makes it illegal to use wood-burning devices, such as fireplaces, woodstoves and pellet stoves, when a Spare the Air Alert is in effect. No wood-burning devices may be installed in new Bay Area homes, and a chimney or fireplace remodel over $15,000 that needs a building permit can only install a gas-fueled, electric or EPA-certified device. That's one reason so many Bay Area fireplaces have been converted to gas inserts or logs.

Earthquake shutoff valves

PG&E says some city and county rules require automatic gas shutoff devices, such as earthquake-actuated or excess flow valves, mostly for new construction and major remodels. The valve must be certified by the State of California and installed by a licensed plumbing contractor, and PG&E doesn't install or service them. If a valve trips, every gas pilot in the house goes out, including the fireplace, so don't try to relight it until the gas is back on and the line has been checked.

Propane fireplace in the Bay Area?

If your fireplace runs on propane (a tank or cylinders outside and a propane company that delivers, rather than a utility gas meter), the utility numbers above aren't your first call. Smell gas? Get out, then call your propane supplier, or 911, from outside. In California, 2% of homes heat mainly with propane (EIA, 2020).

Propane fireplaces have a few problems of their own: a low or empty tank, a fireplace that won't light after a refill, and a regulator buried in snow or ice. The propane industry's safety guide says that if your tank runs out, your propane supplier or a qualified pro should leak-check the system before the gas goes back on. Our guide covers the safe checks: propane fireplace won't light or stay lit.

Electric fireplaces in Bay Area homes

In San Francisco flats and East Bay condos with no chimney or gas line to spare, the fireplace is often electric, and we help with those by video too. A tech goes through the safe checks with you: plugged straight into a working wall outlet (no extension cord or power strip), the breaker or GFCI not tripped, fresh remote batteries, then the maker's reset after a cool-down if the overheat switch shut it off. We'll never ask you to open the unit or touch wiring. See electric fireplace won't turn on.

San Francisco-Oakland fireplace not working? Start here

• Pilot won't light: Clicking but no flame, or no spark at all. The usual causes, in order.
• Pilot lights, then goes out: It lights, but won't stay lit. Usually the flame isn't heating the sensor enough.
• Pilot is lit, burner won't come on: The pilot's burning but the main flame never comes up.
• Propane fireplace won't light: Low tank, a recent run-out or refill, or a regulator under snow. Safe checks first.
• Electric fireplace won't turn on: No power, no heat, or it shut itself off. The safe checks manufacturers list, in order.
• Remote not working: Batteries, switch position, then re-pairing. Steps from the manufacturers.
• Proflame 2 blinking red light: One, two or three red blinks on the control module. What each one means and what to do first.
• Need a replacement part? Send us your model and serial, and a tech matches the exact gas, propane or electric fireplace part.

Common questions

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