Fire guts home on Alpine Drive

BFD responding to increased number of chimney fires

By ALEX STRICKLAND - Bigfork Eagle

An apparent chimney fire spread through a residence on Alpine Drive on New Year's Eve and resulted in the destruction of the home.

Bigfork Fire Department Captain Wayne Loeffler said the initial call came in as a chimney fire that the residents thought was out and then another call came in shortly thereafter reporting flames in an adjacent part of the home.

"Hard part was it was an older house with a newer adjoining part. Inside was old logs and some add-ons which created openings for fire to get through," Loeffler said.

The home, at 240 Alpine Drive, is a loss, Loeffler said, but an adjoining addition might be spared with only moderate smoke and water damage, he said.

Bigfork Fire responded to the call at about 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 and later called for backup responders from Ferndale and Creston fire districts. Once the fire spread to the upper floor of the home, Loeffler said crews could no longer enter the structure because of the threat of collapse.

"Eventually we were worried about the stabilization of the upper floors," he said.

The home's tin roof also contributed to the difficulty in fighting the blaze because it held the fire's heat in and prevented firemen from attacking the flames from above. Eventually an excavator was brought in to peel back some of the tin from a safe distance.

Mop-up work on the fire didn't conclude until about 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 1.

Bigfork Fire Chief Chuck Harris said the department has responded to four chimney fires already this year and cautioned people to take precautions to keep their homes safe. He said he suspected higher natural gas costs might be encouraging more people to turn back to wood fires.

Chimney fires start when resin in wood smoke cools and adhered to chimney or pipe walls. The resin hardens to creosote and when the blockage gets to a certain point the heat buildup causes the material to reach such high temperatures that it can crack the chimney block or melt the pipe it's blocking. Intense heat buildup allows chimney fires to affect insulation or other material around the chimney.

Harris said that in December Bigfork Fire responded to a chimney fire where the heat had been so extreme that the floor joists adjacent to the chimney were smoldering.

Harris said homeowners should have their chimney professionally cleaned and inspected each year and only burn clean, dry wood.

Green wood contains more of the resin that clogs chimneys so even a recently cleaned one could become quickly blocked.

Harris and Assistant Chief Nat O'Farrell said the fire was a prime example of a case where the department's new 109-foot ladder truck — to be delivered this summer — could have made a difference by allowing firefighters to get above the fire and perhaps have a way to get through the tin roof.