WASHINGTON 鈥� A pair of house fires on Sunday caused by chimneys and fireplaces has a聽local fire safety expert聽advising that such fires can be prevented by taking a few precautions.
“You should have your chimney inspected annually, and cleaned if necessary,” said Pete Piringer, of the聽Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that you should look at, really, before the season gets started.鈥�
A聽missing chimney brick, which might have been noticed during inspection, allowed . Also on Sunday, a聽malfunctioning flue was responsible for a house fire in Ashburn.
鈥淭he last couple days, we鈥檝e had a cold spell, and there鈥檚 been a number of chimney fires in the Baltimore-Washington area,鈥� Piringer said.
Inspections can detect a number of problems that can cause fires.
“Sometimes it鈥檚 because of a malfunction of some sort with the聽chimney.聽Maybe the insert is not correct or it’s overloaded.聽Sometimes it’s just dirty or some other kind of maintenance issue,” Piringer said.
Piringer said it can take days for fireplace ashes to cool down completely: “Do not remove any ashes from the fireplace immediately after the fire.鈥�
Once the ashes have cooled, Piringer鈥檚 tips for proper disposal include:
- Place them in a metal, galvanized can with a tight lid.
- Store the ashcan outside away from anything that can burn.
- Do not store the can on a porch, deck or in a garage.
When you’re using any kind of heat source, Piringer said, you need to maintain a circle of safety.
Whether it’s a fireplace, wood stove, furnace or space heater, keep combustibles away and allow plenty of space alongside and overhead.
“That also means keep an eye on the kids and the聽pets in the event they get too close,” Piringer warned.
