Chimney fires could leave homes up in smoke

Frontiersman

WASILLA — Of eight house fires in the Valley over the past week, five started in chimneys.

Chimney fires are an all-too-common sign that winter has arrived.

In an interview last week, Matanuska-Susitna Borough Deputy Director of Emergency Services Clint Vardeman said the first really cold day of the season is usually marked by one or two fires.

“That’s usually when we see an influx because people are usually using their fireplaces or their woodstoves more heavily,” Vardeman said.

Assistant Chief of the Central Mat-Su Fire Department Michael Keenan said his department responded to all five chimney fires but three were out of their area — two in the Big Lake/Meadow Lakes area and one in Willow.

The most recent, he said, was late Monday into early Tuesday on Pirate Circle. Firefighters saved the home, he said, but the woman inside was lucky to get out alive. She had been sleeping and there were no smoke detectors in the home to alert her.

With five fires since it got seriously cold out, fire officials are keeping a close eye on the numbers, Keenan said.

“We don’t know if it’s a spurt or a trend yet,” he said.

Given how things are going economically, Keenan wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a trend.

“We anticipated, because of the cost of fuel, that people were going to start to use wood to heat.”

Keenan said his department is working on disseminating information about proper chimney maintenance.

One of the most important things, he said, is to keep the chimney clean. Some folks think a once-yearly cleaning done before using the wood stove is enough.

But some chimneys are going to need two or three in a winter, Keenan said, especially if the chimney is getting more use than normal. He said a homeowner’s chimneysweep should be able to tell them how many cleanings are needed.

Another bit of advice — burn dry, cured wood. Wet, green wood, Keenan said, tends to produce more creosote build-up that contributes to chimney fires.

Then there is the question of insulation.

“If you have good, proper installation and good clearance around the chimney pipe you can have a fire in the chimney and it’s not going to do anything,” Keenan said.

But that clearance is important.

“People are putting extra installation in their attic spaces and they feel because it’s a double-layer chimney they can put insulation right up against that chimney and that’s not the case.”

Insulation is built to hold heat. A fire in a chimney could spread that heat to the insulation, which will hold on to it and maybe smolder until the heat gets to a piece of wood in the attic. That’s when the fire starts, Keenan said.

“You could have had a chimney fire, say in the middle of the day, and not have noticed anything,” Keenan said. “That smoldering insulation could have been smoldering the whole day and at two o’clock in the morning that could reach a piece of wood in the ceiling.”

Keenan said people should keep an eye on their chimney’s temperature gauge and their stovepipes. Gauges registering high temperatures are an obvious sign of a fire. As are discoloration on the chimney, stovepipe, or the ceiling around them.

A lot of chimney fires also make a telltale noise.

“It sounds like a jet engine, almost, blowing through that chimney stack,” Keenan said.

The department, he said, is happy to help anyone who suspects a chimney fire. He urges those them to close their flues, get out of the house and call 911.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.