Chimney fire twice in two days

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is warning householders to take care when lighting their chimneys after the spate of chimney fires continued over the weekend.

The first call from Kensworth was at 3.22pm on Saturday 12 March.

The Dunstable fire crew found that there was a fire in the chimney of a domestic property. They used stirrup pumps and small gear to fight the fire and a thermal imaging camera to check that it was out. This incident was closed at 4.46pm.

They were then called back to the property at 2.46pm the following afternoon (Sunday 13 March) to extinguish another fire in the chimney. They again used stirrups pumps to put it out together with a backpack sprayer. The Luton Aerial Platform was also used to assist in dousing the fire. This incident was closed at 3.59pm.

The advice from the fire service is for people to have their chimney swept before they light it if theyhaven’t used it for some time as it can become blocked by debris, even bird’s nests and start a fire that could severely damage your home. More advice at http://bit.ly/1LlSbQe