Smoke clues we ask Beverly Hills callers about
Does smoke curl out along the top of the opening, or only when a door or the range hood is on? Is the smell worse on warm afternoons? Those answers narrow the cause before we arrive. Inland enough to lose the coastal damp quickly, the hillside lots still catch Santa Ana gusts that can stall a fire's draft. Kitchen hoods and powerful HVAC systems in larger homes can also pull air down the chimney.

