Chimney Fire

Schulenburg Volunteer Fire Department put out a chimney fire in a house on Thursday morning, March 31.

The fire department received the call shortly after 8 a.m. reporting fire coming out of a fireplace chimney of a house at the intersection of South Main St. and Herder Ave.

Schulenburg Assistant Fire Chief Drew Brossmann said the first firefighters who arrived climbed the roof and sprayed water down the chimney. He said they then applied firefighting foam inside the chimney to smother any remaining embers.

Brossmann said the homeowner had lit a fire in the fireplace the evening before.

“There was a bunch of soot buildup in the chimney and it ignited from the fire,” he said.

Brossmann said firefighters were able to put out the fire with minimal water damage to the home. He said the house also suffered some minor smoke damage. The fire department set up some large fans to help blow the smoke out of the house. The fire department advised citizens to regularly clean their fireplace chimneys to prevent such fires.

“Because of our normally warm climate, fireplaces aren’t used that often in our area,” the department said in a statement issued on Facebook after the fire. “With such little use, routine cleaning is something we don’t often think about, but is always a good thing to stay on top of.”