A fire call early Friday morning near Grunthal serves as a reminder to people with wood-burning appliances to make sure their chimneys are clean. Hanover Fire Chief Paul Wiebe says they got an alarm at 1:19 a.m. for a residence along Cottonwood Road, 1.5 miles south of Grunthal. He says crews were able to quickly extinguish a chimney fire with minimal damage. Wiebe adds the cause of chimney fires is usually pretty obvious.
"I can't say in this one but most chimney fires are started due to a need for cleaning. Some of them can build up quite quickly, some of them it's overtime, so a clean chimney is your best preventative action."
Wiebe says the two residents of the home got out safely and were allowed to go back inside after the fire was out.