Wrong wood cause of rise in Shropshire chimney fires

People are also failing to keep their chimney's clean and are burning inappropriate items, fire chiefs have warned.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said it has dealt with a number of fires in the last week – including five in just one evening.

It is now warning people to take precautions before lighting their fireplaces.

Crews were called to tackle four chimney blazes in the south of the county and one in Oswestry, all on Wednesday evening.

The first involved a wood burning stove at a house in Newcastle, near Clun, at about 5.50pm, which was put out by a crew from Clun using small gear and a thermal imaging camera by 6.30pm.

Then at about 7pm a crew from Bishop's Castle was called to New Street in the town, where another chimney flue fire had broken out. This blaze took firefighters about 20 minutes to put out.

Later, at 8.45pm, there was a further fire at a house in Rushbury Road, Wall Under Heywood, near Church Stretton, which was put out by a Church Stretton crew by 9.20pm.

In the north of the county, at about 9pm on Oakhurst Road, Oswestry, yet another chimney blaze was put out by fire crews, and finally, back in Bishop's Castle, this time at Kerry Green, another chimney fire happened at about 10.30pm. Firefighters managed to put this out by about 12.15am.

Then on Friday, crews were called to Wilfred Owen Road in Oswestry at 9am.

They tackled the fire using chimney gear and rods.

Malcolm Stevenson, speaking for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said it was a known problem at this time of year as people started to use their fireplaces.

He said: "We have had 21 chimney fires in 21 days, and five in one night.

"There are two main reasons chimney fires happen – one is that people have not had their chimney swept.

"The other is that people use the wrong type of wood on their fire, unseasoned wood that can release tar."

Mr Stevenson said the tar could build up in the chimney and then easily reignite at a later date.

Putting household rubbish such as crisp packets on the fire could also lead to a tarry build up in the chimney he said.

Mr Stevenson urged those with woodburning stoves or coal fireplaces to ensure they only burnt what their fireplace was designed for and to make sure they had their chimney swept regularly.