Clean chimney to be safe

Clean chimney to be safe Eleven chimneys in Blenheim have gone up in smoke during the past year and the town's volunteer fire brigade is encouraging property owners to have their chimneys cleaned to avoid problems this winter. "We would urge people to get their chimneys done now before they use their fire. While it was easy to forget about having the chimney cleaned, it was not something people should neglect, he said. There were two main signs a chimney was blocked, he said. These days, though, using brushes to push out the soot was quick and easy and created very little dust. Certain varieties of wood with lots of resin, such as "old man" pine, could be a problem, but wet wood was a bigger factor in chimney blockages, he said. "I've had chimneys I haven't needed to clean for three or four years because their owners are meticulous about burning dry wood and then I've had a chimney I had to clean twice in six weeks because they were burning rubbish wood. "The first telltale sign is when you're opening the door of the fire and smoke starts wafting back out at you when it normally doesn't. Ross also encouraged people to check they had working smoke alarms and ensure open fires were screened and ashes dampened down and disposed of safely in a metal bucket. " . Chimney fires could quickly turn nasty, he said. In the old days chimney cleaning had been messy and time consuming and his grandfather even set fire to chimneys, using a controlled burn to clean them, he said. . "If you get a fire in the ceiling it's very very hard to know something's happening. Blenheim Chimney Cleaning owner Doug Powell said he had been busy since January cleaning chimneys, but people were still getting in touch with him wanting urgent attention because of blocked chimneys. "Paying $45 for a chimney clean is a hell of a lot cheaper than having to replace the flue, or worse, if you do not. Clean chimney to be safe Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 11/05/2012