Fire crews called to three chimney fires across Wrexham over weekend

Residents are being urged to ensure that their chimneys are “cleaned and checked at the earliest opportunity.”

It comes after North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to six chimney fires over the weekend.

Three of the incidents took place in Chirk, Overton and Holt.

Across the wider region North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were also called to fires in Felinheli, Dolwyddelan and Cwm Y Glo.

Now the fire service is urging people to only burn dry wood and to get chimneys cleaned and checked at the earliest opportunity.

The following advice has also been issued by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service:-

• All chimneys and flue-ways should be cleaned and checked to ensure they are free from debris and in full working order before the heating season.
• A blocked or defective chimney can cause both chimney fires and carbon monoxide poisoning, so it’s very important to employ a professional qualified chimney sweep certified by the National Association of Chimney Sweeps.
• Regular maintenance of your chimney will depend on the fuel you burn – if you burn oil or gas, your chimney should be swept once a year, Bituminous – coal twice a year, wood up to four times a year and smokeless coals at least once a year.
• Do not burn wet wood
• When thinking about heating your home, it’s important to purchase the correct size appliance for your room – an appliance which is too large will never be used hot enough to volatize all of the fuel within the wood and unburned fuel will pass up the chimney as smoke and condense within the flue as extremely flammable creosote.