Firefighters called to a chimney fire at a farmhouse near Bury, have blamed the build up of soot as the cause of the fire.
Battling into the early hours of the morning, the blaze took two teams of fire fighters to extinguish.
Firefighters are now urging people to get their chimneys cleaned to stop further fires from breaking out, expressing how a simple chimney clean could have prevented the fire.
Watch Manager at the scene said: "We have been called to a number of these fires recently and would urge people to ensure their chimneys are cleaned to stop soot from building up."
Crews were on the scene for a few hours.
The fire service advice for anyone with a stove fire to prevent a fire is:
- Have the chimney swept before lighting the first fire of winter
- Don't allow soot or ash to build up
- Inspect your chimney breast - Making sure it is structurally safe and that sparks or fumes can't escape through broken bricks or cracks
- Use a fireguard
- Don’t overload the grate or build fires too high
- Make sure before you go to bed you let the fires burn down
Maintenance requirements of a chimney depend on the fuel but it is recommended that:
- Smokeless coals: at least once a year
- Wood: four times a year
- Bituminous coal: twice a year
- Oil: once a year
