Chimney fires damage two Santa Rosa homes

A pair of fires at two east Santa Rosa homes Sunday night were unusually similar, but fire officials said nothing more suspicious than the cold weather and chimney buildup are the common factors.

Members of both households had to evacuate after their chimneys caused their roofs to catch fire, said Matt Dahl, battalion chief with the Santa Rosa Fire Department.

“The cold hit so abruptly this year,” he said, adding that many residents likely turned on their heaters and lit fires in the fireplace for the first time this fall.

“It was just a little bit of an anomaly to have two of them (in one night),” Dahl said.

The first fire was reported at 7:50 p.m., at a home in the 5000 block of Charmian Drive. Some time after the residents had lit a fire in their fireplace, a person walking by pounded on their door to alert them that their roof was on fire, said Cianna Cheatham, who identified herself as someone living at the home.

“The guy was a true hero as was the fire department!” Cheathem wrote in an email.

By the time the first fire engine pulled up four minutes later, all the occupants of the home, including a dog, were out of the house safely, Dahl wrote in a news release.

Both the wooden enclosure around the chimney and part of the surrounding roof structure were on fire, according to the release. Firefighters climbed up a ladder and attacked the flames from the roof. Other crews arrived and set up a hose to attack the fire the yard of the house next door.

The fire was under control in 15 minutes, the news release said. Because the damage from both the flames and the smoke was limited, the residents were able to remain in their home overnight.

The next call came at 9:23 p.m., from a neighbor reporting fire at a home in the 1500 block of Ronnie Drive.

The elderly couple occupying the one-story home had also fired up their fireplace Sunday night, and they told fire personnel they had also noticed that their wooden ceiling was burning. The neighbor who called 911 had seen that the couple’s roof was on fire.

Dahl said that it’s common for the roof or attic to begin to burn first when chimneys spark fires.

“They tend to maybe not be noticed right away,” he said.

A crew with the first engine that arrived in under five minutes assisted the elderly couple out of their home, Dahl said. Once again, the wooden enclosure surrounding the chimney and part of the roof structure were both on fire.

Three engines in total responded, with some crews attacking the fire from the exterior, while others climbed ladders to the roof to remove burning material.

This fire took 45 minutes to bring under control, according to the news release, and the damage to the home was more significant. The couple was not able to stay there and had to seek shelter with friends for the night, Dahl said.

Damages from the first fire Sunday night were estimated at $100,000. At the second home, they were estimated at $150,000.

Dahl said residents with fireplaces should be cautious about potential buildup of creosote within their chimneys before lighting fires. This flammable byproduct of wood burning can cause extreme temperatures within the chimney flue, and any sparks that escape through cracks can light the surrounding wood on fire.

Dahl advised residents to have their chimney inspected before lighting a fire in their fireplace as the cold temperatures persist this week.

“If people get them inspected and cleaned, it generally prevents this kind of thing,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.