North Lincoln Fire & Rescue was dispatched to a reported chimney fire that was rapidly spreading to the roof of a two story home located at 9226 Siletz Highway at 2:59 pm, Tuesday afternoon, October 4th. North Lincoln Fire & Rescue responded to the scene and first arriving crews noticed the heavy smoke coming from the second story windows as the fire quickly grew in intensity.   Within ten minutes of the first units arrival, it was quickly followed by two engines, an aerial truck, two rescues, two water tenders and an additional staff vehicles.  Depoe Bay fire sent an additional tender to standby at the scene in the non-hydrated rural area, and Nestucca Fire was requested to send an engine and crew to standby at the northern end of the district with so many of North Lincoln Fire & Rescues volunteers and equipped engaged so far south and just beyond the districts border.

The firefighters managed to extinguish the fire within 30 minutes and contained it to two rooms on the second floor and attic, however, water damaged areas on the first story during suppression efforts.  Hwy. 229 (Siletz Hwy.) was closed for approximately two hours with assistance from Oregon State Police and ODOT. Early damage estimates range 60,000 dollars or more, no one was injured during the event and the residents could not re-occupy the building until electrical and structural repairs could be made.

Assistant Chief Doug Kerr is still investigating the fire and the wood stove that heated deposits in the chimney. This fire serves as reminder as we approach seasonally cooler temperatures.  Chimney Fires occur at an alarming rate, over 25,000 chimney fires account for over 120 million dollars in damage to property every year. Thousands of injuries and even many deaths result every year from chimney fires that spread to the structure of the home. Chimney liners or structural problems can allow high temperatures, sparks and embers to escape to combustible areas in walls, roofs or attics. A common cause of chimney fires is creosote inside the chimney catching fire and burning inside the chimney. Creosote is a by-product of burning that coats the inside of your chimney that needs to be removed during regular annual chimney cleaning by chimney sweeps.

information provided by NLFR