MELFORT — A chimney fire in the RM of Kinistino is causing Melfort Fire and Rescue to remind people to clean their chimneys.
On the morning of Dec. 3, Melfort Fire and Rescue was dispatched to a reported structure fire in the RM.
While on the way, further information was received indicating it was a chimney fire, and believed to be under control. Upon arrival, they confirmed it.
The chimney was about four to six inches in circumference.
“The homeowner wasn’t there but the occupant was, and she had phoned somebody else and said, ‘This is what’s going on,’ and that person placed the call to 911,” said Jason Everitt, Melfort’s fire chief.
The occupant closed the damper and snuffed the fire out. No damages or injuries were reported.
Everitt said by closing the damper it excluded the oxygen from the fire, effectively ending it.
The homeowner arrived on scene shortly after the department, and assumed responsibility for resolving the issue which resulted in the fire.
“We turned it back to them and they were going to make sure the chimney was all cleaned out,” he said.
Afterwards, the department released a Facebook post after, focusing on chimney maintenance.
Everitt said a chimney should be cleaned before the season it will be used in, once a year minimum.
“There are people who will do that for you and there are companies that can sweep your chimney, otherwise you can buy a kit for yourself. That’s what I did with the fireplace I had in my house.”
By not cleaning it, he said it can cause a buildup of flammable creosote.
“Make sure you don’t have a buildup of that flammable creosote, which is typically a mixture of tar and unburned carbon that tends to coat the inside of chimneys – especially if a fire may not be burning hot enough to burn all those products off. It may be dampened down so the fire last longer, it continues to burn overnight.”
Green and unseasoned wood can also cause particles to build up, coating the chimney over time.
“In extreme cases it’s like a layer of tar coating the chimney, and it is flammable.”
In extreme cases of buildup, he suggested professional cleaning.
Everitt isn’t sure of the cause of the fire in the Dec. 3 incident, but one possible cause is some flammable particulate material.
“I don’t anticipate it was too dirty, it was probably some particulate material in there that caught fire. They were going to make sure it was nice and clean before they get the fire stoked up and running in it again.”
