Crews use crane platform to extinguish Market Drayton chimney fire
Firefighters used a crane platform to extinguish a chimney fire from above in Market Drayton.
Crews from Market Drayton and Shrewsbury were sent to Longslow Road on Saturday evening after reports of a fire in a house chimney.
A statement from the town's fire station crew said: "At 17.57pm on Saturday, the rescue pump and incident support unit from Market Drayton were both mobilised to a report of a chimney fire at a domestic property.
"On arrival at the scene a large quantity of smoke, flames and sparks were observed issuing from the chimney pot.
"The incident commander was informed by the home-owner that the fire appeared to be located above an inglenook fireplace in the ground floor of the property.
"After carrying out a rapid dynamic risk assessment which included establishing that there was no one suffering from Covid-19 or self-isolating at the property, the crew were quickly tasked with gaining entry into the flue of the chimney, to allow chimney rods fitted with a hose and attached to a stirrup pump to be got to work to try and extinguish the fire.
"As the crew were attempting to rod the chimney large quantities of creosote (the residue that sticks to the inner walls of the chimney) began to fall, indicating that the chimney was blocked.
"A thermal imaging camera was used by the crew to check for any signs of excessive heat in any other rooms of the property. The camera revealed that were two hot spots in a first-floor bedroom and one in the chimney breast in the roof space.
"As there was excessive heat in a wall and the chimney breast, as well as the fact that the flue appeared to be blocked preventing the fire being fought from the ground floor, an assistance message was sent to fire control requesting the attendance of an aerial ladder platform.
"On arrival at the scene, the aerial ladder platform crew from Shrewsbury were quickly given a brief by the incident commander, prior to sighting and carefully pitching the ladder to the chimney stack, to allow the fire to be extinguished from above using a hose reel, operated by two firefighters working from the cage of the aerial ladder platform.
"After approximately an hour's teamwork by both crews the fire was successfully extinguished.
"We are pleased to report that there were no injuries at this incident, the cause of the fire was a build-up of flammable creosote in the flue of the chimney igniting.
"We strongly advise that if you use an open fire or log burner, you have your chimney professionally swept at least twice a year when burning wood or bituminous house coal and at least once a year when burning smokeless fuels.
"You should also ensure that you have at least one correctly positioned and working smoke alarm per floor of your home."
