A couple of residents had to be evacuated from their home yesterday evening because of a chimney fire. Grand Forks Fire and Rescue received a call around 5:30PM and headed to the 17th Street and Donaldson Drive residence. A 3 to 4 foot flame was visible from the top of the chimney upon arrival.
Fire Chief Dale Heriot says it took about an hour to extinguish:
“It was a 2 level home with a fairly steep roof and we deployed our aerial truck and put the guy up in a bucket, they were able to use our chimney nozzle and extinguish the flames.”
He says about 15 firefighters were on scene:
“We had 3 engines respond, 3 engines and 2 command vehicles, and we had approximately 15 firefighters”
Heriot explains how similar situations could be avoided:
“Burn dry cured wood and not green and raw wood, and the other thing is make sure you’re cleaning your chimney. When you’re burning wood through the Winter and that’s your primary heat you have to ensure that the chimney is staying clean, and the material that was burning in there is creosote, and if you’re not burning clean wood and your wood stove isn’t burning properly you’re going to get creosote build up and that increases the danger of fire or damaging your flue and chimney.”
He adds it’s possible the blaze could have been a danger to surrounding structures if left unattended, or if the neighbours hadn’t noticed it. Click here to read about stove safety.