By Emily Parsons

Published at 16:07, Tuesday, 30 October 2012

A CHIMNEY sweep has warned residents of the importance of maintaining their chimneys following a spate of fires.

Chimney sweeps: Steely, left, and David Southwell from Scotby. David said: ‘You get two types of people: you get those who have a very good routine and have it done every year and you can rely on them, and then there are the customers who haven’t had it done for years’

David Southwell, of Ladysteps, Scotby, is reminding people that chimneys for any fire or stove should be a swept a minimum of once a year, but preferably twice.

The warning comes after firefighters across the county dealt with three chimney fires on Saturday, bringing the total this month to 14.

Mr Southwell, 56, runs his own chimney sweeping and stove installation business.

He used to be in the trade in the 1980s, with his father-in-law, but gave it up when demand fell away.

However, Mr Southwell set up his own business four years ago to try to meet demand. Fifteen months ago his son Steely joined the family business, as his father was too busy – and they currently work four or five weeks in advance.

Mr Southwell said: “You get two types of people: you get those who have a very good routine and have it done every year and you can rely on them, and then there are the customers who haven’t had it done for years. Those people think they can get away with it until they have a problem.”

Common issues include birds nesting, soot falling down or, in the worst instances, fires beginning in the flue itself.

Mr Southwell stressed that the wet summer will only have made issues worse.

“If the chimney has been sat damp for months,” he explained, “all the soot will stick to it inside.

“At least if it is dry and moving, the soot goes out.”

Cumbria’s Chief Fire Officer Dominic Harrison echoed the message, saying a chimney fire can be devastating.

“They can be very destructive and lead to much more serious fires,” he said.

“Sometimes the only way of extinguishing the fire can be by cutting away large sections of masonry or floor to get to the cause and extinguish the fire, which can obviously be extremely distressing and costly for the home owners.”

Mr Harrison added: “It’s much easier to get a chimney sweep in and eradicate the problem before it starts.”

eparsons@cngroup.co.uk

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk