POMPEY -- Fire investigators say it looks like a problem chimney was to blame for a fire in Pompey Sunday. No one was hurt, but the home was severely damaged. A small chimney problem can lead to big fire problems. At the fire in Pompey, the fire chief says someone actually cleaned the chimney earlier in the day but that didn't prevent the fire.
Certified chimney sweep David Doherty says just sweeping a chimney isn't going to do the job. "If I put a brush in the chimney, I would knock off all the crispy soot but that shiny black tar, for the most part, remains."
That black tar called creosote can build up in a chimney and catch fire. "If a person sweeps their own chimney and fails to realize this tar is left behind, the very first fire they have might result in a chimney fire."
Doherty uses a video camera to inspect the inside of the chimney to look for creosote and gaps in the flue tiles. He said, "If they were to have a chimney fire in this flue now, it can go to the next step, one step closer to the structure."
He said a chimney that looks like that on the inside needs to be cleaned with special chemicals and repaired. "The kind of tar we saw today is not something we should see if everything is installed correctly."
The early signs of a chimney problem can go unnoticed Doherty said. "Many times chimney fires happen in a little flash and people won't know they've had one."
But when there are a combination of factors that go wrong including creosote and chimney structure issues, that's when a chimney fire can spread further and destroy a home.
For more information on chimney safety:
http://www.csia.org
http://www.ncsg.org
