Early-season check: Bend chimney sweeper urges chimney and dryer vent cleaning before winter sets in
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The colder weather on the way this week brings an important reminder about winter fire dangers.
Jim Brown, owner of Brown's Chimney Service (and Air Duct Cleaning) in Bend, has been cleaning chimneys and dryer vents in Central Oregon for more than 30 years. He recommends servicing both once a year.
"Its a cheap form of fire insurance to hire a certified chimney sweep come out, sweep, and inspect the chimney once a year -- and that's it, you'll be good to go and won’t have to worry about it," Brown said Monday.
Last week, lint buildup in a dryer caused a fire that led to $10,000 in damage at the Vintage at Bend senior apartments.
While cleaning a dryer vent, Brown described the danger of lint buildup.
"If it doesn't get cleaned out periodically, it cant breathe so it will clog up and can over heatthe dryer motor and cause a fire," he said. "Then of course you've got all that lint, which creates a really good fire started, which is running underneath the floor of your house.”
In February of this year, a chimney fire at a home in southwest Bend caused $150,000 damage. While that fire was traced to an improperly installed chimney pipe, the major risk for chimney fires is a buildup of creosote.
"We're running brushes down inside the chimney flew that has a lot of creosote down inside, which is a byproduct of burning wood," Brown said while working on a client's chimney. "If you don't get the creosote out of there, it'll either clog up the chimney and smoke up the house, or you run the risk of having a chimney fire."
On average, Brown said he sees 10 to 20 chimney fires a year in Bend.
“It gets about 2,200 degrees in a chimney fire, and the chimney is not made for that," he said. "So (we're) trying to cut down on that kind of damage or fire risk or safety to the family, because you know if it's happening in the middle of the night and you're asleep, you won’t know it."
Before you hire someone for the maintenance, you'll want to make sure they're certified. To do so, you can check with the the nonprofit Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association.
