Hawke's Bay firefighters called to three chimney fires within an hour

One person required treatment for smoke inhalation after a chimney fire in Hastings on Monday evening. Photo / Warren Buckland

Clean your chimneys Hawke's Bay.

That's the message from Hawke's Bay fire service area commander Ken Cooper and chimney sweep Johnny Martin after three chimney fires needed to be dealt with by firefighters within an hour on Monday.

In one case, one person required treatment for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters were called to a house fire on Rodney St, in the Hastings suburb of Saint Leonards, about 6.17pm on Monday.

"We initially had reports of a house fire, but the property's chimney flume hadn't been cleaned, so it resulted in a blocked flume," Cooper said.

"It resulted in a smoke-logged property and the occupant received some treatment for smoke inhalation."

A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said one ambulance attended.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand said three fire trucks attended the fire.

There was no damage to the property, but Cooper said it was a warning to the public to be proactive in their household fire and smoke care.

"Our advice to anybody with a fireplace or chimney is to ensure that it is cleaned annually," he said.

"This property in question had working smoke alarms, which was good."

Two other chimney fires were reported to FENZ on Monday night.

The first, in Marewa at 5.36pm, was attended by two fire trucks and extinguished.

Just over half an hour later, another was reported in Waipukurau at 6.08pm.

The fire was out upon arrival.

Johnny Martin, owner of Hastings-based maintenance business Martins Home Services, said while the number of chimney sweep jobs are low, they are steadily increasing.

"In the last two years, I've started to notice people being more proactive in getting their chimneys cleaned," he said. "But I still don't do many cleans at all.

"I've experienced insurance companies saying that if a fire starts and the occupant hadn't cleaned it out in five years, they'd ask some questions.

"And I warn customers they may not get contents insurance if something was to happen."

Martin said a high percentage of home owners were unaware they should get their chimneys cleaned once a year.

"The importance needs to be better advertised," he said.

"I get about two jobs per year where the owners have told tenants they can light the fire despite it being deregistered.

"I show them how it all starts, show them how serious it can be."