Central Emergency Services responded to two chimney fires over the weekend, one more serious than the other. Safety Officer Brad Nelson said wood stoves have been causing some problems…
Nelson: “Because it’s been such a weird winter, people haven’t been using as much and we have wood that’s not necessarily dried out. We have wet wood, dirty wood as you would call it, so we have a lot of creosote built up. So people maybe haven’t cleaned them since last year, because they haven’t been using them as much, they figured they didn’t need to. Lots of excuses out there and different reasons out there, but we’re starting to see them. Usually we get several a month during the winter. We haven’t seen them, but they’re starting to pick up.”
Nelson encouraged homeowners to have their chimneys cleaned professionally or stop by the CES station to borrow a brush.
