Tim Kuhbander, owner of Kuhbander Chimney Sweeping & Repair, Inc., wears a protective mask and head lamp Thursday as he cleans out a fireplace in a client's home in Three Rivers. Chimney safety awareness has been raised after two recent area chimney fires in the area.

By Rex Hall Jr. 

KALAMAZOO -- Kalamazoo Township's fire chief has ordered that residents discontinue the use of their fireplaces at an apartment complex where firefighters have responded to two chimney fires in just more than a month.

"We've identified them as a hazard at this time," Fire Chief Ron Farr said. Since mid-November, two fires that originated in the vertical shaft area of a chimney have damaged units at Lake Forest Apartments, off West Main Street on Kalamazoo's west side.

A fire Sunday in the 300 block of Lake Ridge Drive began in a chimney chase and damaged four apartments. No one was injured in the 4:25 a.m. blaze, but the attic space of a second-floor unit was heavily damaged and water leaked into a first-floor unit, Deputy Fire Chief Mike Weidemann said.

The fire came about six weeks after a Nov. 17 blaze in the 200 block of Timber Ridge Drive at the apartment complex that began in a chimney and dispaced 14 residents. Farr, the township's fire marshal, said he has yet to identify the cause of the two fires, but that there are "great similarities" in that both blazes began in chimneys.

"We don't have any reason to believe that it's anything the tenants are doing wrong," Farr said. "There's definitely a problem up in the shaft area or the back part of the firebox. We're just not able yet to identify specifically what that is."

Farr said fire officials will work with inspectors and engineers hired by the apartment complex to pinpoint the problem and a solution. In the meantime, the fire chief said Lake Forest management has sent out a letter to tenants informing them to discontinue the use of their fireplaces, as ordered by Farr.

When asked about the request that residents stop using their fireplaces, Leigh Basler, a regional manager for the apartment complex said, "We're doing everything that we can, cooperating with the authorities and the insurance companies to get to the bottom of this and to find out the cause and we're doing it expeditiously."

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Chimney safety tips
• Use only dry, split, seasoned wood in a fireplace or wood stove to avoid build-up of creosote, an oily deposit that catches fire easily and is the cause of most chimney fires and a large share of home heating fires in general.
• Only use paper or kindling wood to start a fire. Do not use flammable liquids.
• Use a sturdy screen for a fireplace to prevent sparks from flying into a room.
• Have a chimney swept a minimum of once annually if burning for heat, or once every two years if burning casually.
• Use a chimney cap with a screen to keep animals, snow, rain or debris from entering a chimney.
• Allow ashes from a fireplace and wood stove time to cool before disposing of them in a metal container. Keep the metal container a safe distance from your home.

SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association