Rindge fire crews responded to a chimney fire that spread into an attic on Swan Point Road Saturday morning.
At about 8:44 a.m. on Saturday, the owner of a home on Swan Point Road noticed smoke coming into the house, and called 911. When crews arrived and checked the home, they found that there was also smoke in the attic.
“We deployed a handline in the attic, and found a small, smoldering fire around the chimney,” said Fire Chief Rick Donovan. “We were able to extinguish that, and began to check for extension, but didn’t find anything further.”
In a post on the department’s Facebook page, Donovan noted that the crew was able to respond quickly to the fire because staff was already assembled and on hand dealing with numerous calls related to the snowstorm that caused damage across town. Crews were dealing with reports of trees down, wires knocked down or hanging low and crashes. The post noted that the lack of delay was crucial in ensuring the fire did not spread any further than it had.
“A delay of even as little as five more minutes and this fire could have grown to be much more serious,” the post read.
Due to the quick response, the fire was under control in about 20 minutes. While there was damage to the area around the pipe, Donovan said it was relatively minor, and the homeowner was able to return to the home after the department ensured the fire had not spread any further.
Donovan said the fire had been contained to a small area, about three square feet around the chimney pipe. The department did an internal assessment of the double-walled asbestos pipe that served as the chimney, and determined that the pipe had a tear in it, which had resulted in the exterior wall of the pipe overheating and catching the surrounding insulation on fire. The homeowner intends to replace the system.
The Rindge Fire Department were assisted at the scene by Winchendon Fire Department, Jaffrey Fire Department, Fitzwilliam Fire Department, Troy Fire and Rescue and the Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance. An engine from Ashby Fire EMS covered the Rindge station.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.