Wrexham: Crews tackle chimney fire at Penycae property

The incident occurred at a property in Penycae at about 8pm on Thursday (March 7), with a crew from Llangollen and a technical rescue unit from Wrexham attending.

A spokesperson for Llangollen Fire Station said: "On first inspection the thermal image camera was showing a temperature reading of 50 degrees.

The scene of the chimney fire in Llangollen. Credit: Llangollen Fire Station (Image: Llangollen Fire Station)

"Crews used chimney rods to try and extinguish the fire, but due to its location we had to gain access two feet into the wall."

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They added: "A technical rescue unit from Wrexham was called to the scene as this has specialist equipment to deal with these kinds of incidents.

"Once through the wall the temperature spiked to 520 degrees. Crew extinguished the fire behind the chimney breast with a hose reel jet."

Here are some tips from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service for safer chimneys:

• All chimneys and flue-ways should be cleaned and checked to ensure they are free from debris and in full working order before the heating season. A blocked or defective chimney can cause both chimney fires and carbon monoxide poisoning, so it's very important to employ a professional qualified chimney sweep certified by the National Association of Chimney Sweeps.
• Regular maintenance of your chimney will depend on the fuel you burn – if you burn oil or gas, your chimney should be swept once a year, Bituminous - coal twice a year, wood up to four times a year and smokeless coals at least once a year.
• Do not burn wet wood
• When thinking about heating your home, it’s important to purchase the correct size appliance for your room - an appliance which is too large will never be used hot enough to volatize all of the fuel within the wood and unburned fuel will pass up the chimney as smoke and condense within the flue as extremely flammable creosote.