Firefighters from North Oyster Volunteer Fire Department (NOVFD) and Ladysmith Fire Rescue (LFR) were dispatched to a chimney fire in the Tideview Road area around 10:30 am on Wednesday, (Feb. 10).
Incident commander, Kris Hill said that when crews arrived on scene, flames were shooting from the chimney of the two-storey house.
“The flames were coming out of both sides of the chimney out of the wall, and were going up towards the roof. All the siding was fire,” Hill said. “It was a chimney fire that had been going for a long time, but it turned into a structure fire.”
No injuries were reported from the fire. Two adults and five children who were inside the house escaped safely, and are being supported by Emergency Social Services, a provincial organization that helps families access food, lodging, and clothing in the first 72 hours after an emergency.
Due to interior and exterior damage caused by the fire, the home will not be habitable until the damage is repaired.
“We’re not recommending anybody stay in the house until they fix the house,” Hill said. “We had to cut the walls apart on the inside and outside, rip all the drywall apart, all the insulation from the ground floor all the way up to the roof because the fire had extended into the walls.”
Hill recommends that any homeowners with a chimney have their chimneys cleaned at least once a year by a licensed certified professional chimney cleaner.
“That’s the biggest PSA here… only burn clean, dry, seasoned wood. You don’t want to burn wet wood, or the wrong wood. You don’t want to put anything else into your wood stove except that.”