I suspect that it’s pine, not hardwood. Not good to burn too much pine in the fireplace. Causes chimneys to get all gunked up......can start chimney fires.
Just a guess.
You’re right about the potential for chimney fires — if you don’t do things right. If you get a good fire going with kindling, and then just add a couple of logs at a time — waiting until the previous ones are burning nicely — you will burn off most of the creosote-making stuff. You need to give your fire enough air to avoid creating too much smoke — many people make the mistake of dampening down their stove. A brief, fast fire is better than a slow-smoldering one. Finally, regardless of what you’re burning, you should clean your chimney every year. I did that, even though there was usually very little creosote because of the way I burned the wood.