House fires soar as more people use wood-burning stoves during cost of living crisis
People are switching off their central heating and resorting to real fires - leading to a massive rise in house fires
Spiralling energy bills have led to a massive increase in fires as people switch off their central heating and resort to old-fashioned methods of keeping warm. The growing trend for wood burners is also fuelling the rise in house blazes.
A Midlands fire brigade has reported a 240 per cent increase in call-outs to blazes involving chimney fires or wood burning stoves. It said the main reason for this was people not bothering to have their chimneys swept.
Fire chiefs are now warning anyone thinking of lighting a real fire in their home to spend money on hiring a chimney sweep before they do so. They are also advising anyone with a wood-burning stove to have them regularly maintained.
Read more: I tried cheapest electric heaters - and one was a clear winner
Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) said in 2022 its crews responded to a record number of call-outs to homes where people either were using fires in grates or wood-burning appliances. A spokesman said these methods of heating the home were growing in popularity due to the high cost of gas and electricity.
The number of incidents involving these appliances rose from 22 in 2021 to 75 in 2022. In December 2022 and January 2023 the brigade responded to 30 chimney fires in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, including 17 last month (January).
In total, there were 79 chimney fires in 2022. Over the 10 years between April 2012 and end of March 2022 there were 1,407.
Never miss anything happening in Worcestershire by signing up for our daily newsletter
A spokesman said: "People with wood-burning stoves, which are growing in popularity due to the spiralling cost of gas and electricity, are reminded to get them correctly installed and regularly maintained. Theres has been a 240 per cent increase in incidents involving these appliances."
The brigade's head of prevention, Emma Roberts, said fires in grates and wood-burning stoves were a perfectly safe way to heat a home providing they were used properly and the chimney had been swept.
"Sweeping your chimney at least once a year and using a quality-assured fuel is the key to prevention," she said. "A typical sweep only takes about 90 minutes and doesn’t make a mess."
READ NEXT:
When energy bills will rise in 2023 as families braced for double blow
I tried to feed my family for £1 each a day for a week and this is how I did it
Joy for plane-spotters as American B52 bombers set to return to Midland skies
'Don't heat homes by burning random finds' warn firefighters over cost of living crisis