one of the tips about the fireplace is that Treated lumber has chemicals infused into it to resist decay and burning. Burning treated lumber will release poisonous gasses into your home. Dry wood is also ideal, because damp, or green, wood will smoke more than burn and can crackle and pop a lot, causing a fire hazard.
I'm unclear what you are talking about. Are you referring to those DVD's that just play a video of a fireplace running? They're a cute novelty, but you could likely just download that footage online for free (or even make your own from someone else's fireplace) and burn your own DVD - or even just play it off of a USB stick into your smart tv.
I am also not too certain as to what you are saying and also thought maybe you were referring to the DVDs. We live in a cold climate area where the winters are long, cold and snowy so a lot of people have fireplaces and wood stoves in our area. Most of them actually go out into the woods and cut their own firewood or buy from local people that are selling what they cut. A fireplace or wood stove can be a great source of heat as long as they are used and maintenanced properly. For us, we are looking at getting an electric fireplace...just getting too old to do all that work!
Well, the thread title does say one thing, but the original post says something about fireplace hazards. So i guess it's better using a fireplace recording on your tv than using a normal fireplace because your house can end up burning down?
I have seen some of the fireplaces that have a TV over them, but I think it would not be a safe thing to do, if you are using a real fire, either gas or wood. I have a TV stand that has an electric heater in it that looks like a fireplace when it is turned on. It is really nice, because it blows the heat right out toward where I am sitting , and warms that area, and looks really pretty, but it is so much safer than a real fire. The nice thing about electricity, is that there is no mess, no smoke, and I don't have to chop or haul wood. The bad thing is, when the weather is bad, if you lose power, then you also lose your heat source. I have a little gas heater that I can use should that happen, but it is not going to warm the whole house, just take the chill off of wherever it is burning at.