Chimney Fire Safety Week 2017
Billing Chimney proudly supported Chimney Fire Safety Week 2017, raising awareness of safe chimney use. This year we provided seven tips to help prevent chimney fires, these are:
- Test your smoke alarms monthly.
- Get your chimney inspected regularly.
- Make sure your chimney is swept according to the type of fuel being used.
- Use the appropriate fuel for your appliance.
- Ensure your fire is extinguished if unattended.
- Never store fuel next to the appliance.
- Ensure a fire guard is used for open fires.
Below you can view our Chimney Fire Safety Week campaign in full.
1. Press to test. Monthly is best. Test your smoke alarms at least once a month to check they are working. This might be an obvious one, but how many people do indeed test their smoke alarms once a month?
2. Most chimney fires are preventable – when was the last time you had your chimney inspected?
3. Chimneys should be swept according to the type of fuel being used and it’s best if this is done regularly. Where smokeless fuels, oil and gas are used, the chimney should be swept once a year, bituminous coal twice a year and wood quarterly. If you have a gas appliance please refer to its Gas Safe Register.
4. Use the appropriate fuel for your appliance – as shown above some appliances may only be suitable for wood burning, if in doubt please refer to your appliance instructions.
5. Ensure your fire is extinguished before going to bed – in conjunction with this please make sure you have working smoke alarms.
6. This might not be immediately obvious – but never store fuel next to the appliance especially when you have an open fire, a spark from a hot ember could easily ignite the fuel.
7. Finally, if you have an open fire place we suggest using a fire guard to protect against flying sparks from hot embers, as it’s possible these could ignite another fuel source.
If you’re concerned or worried about the condition of your fire place, please give Billing Chimneys’ a call on 01425 475774 and we will be happy to discuss this with you. Alternatively you can email [email protected]. To find out more about Chimney Fire Safety Week please click here!
