September 27, 2011
Utility room fires are the single biggest cause of home structure fires in the United States.
Why We Developed This Training
During the early 1980's when I was a rookie career firefighter and paramedic, over the course of about one month's time, we experienced a series of fireplace chimney fires in DuPage County, Illinois. These fires resulted in one death, as well as, an untold amount of property loss that alarmed area residents.
As a result of the fires and hoopla, one of the local newspapers decided to run a story on the subject. The newspaper reporter who wrote the article interviewed one of our Chief officers at my department at that time. The subject of the article was fireplace safety for the upcoming holiday season.
While all this was happening, I had just passed my Certified Chimney Sweep exam for another year because I ran a side business on my off-duty days cleaning, troubleshooting, and repairing solid fuel appliances and clothes dryer vents.
A week or so later, the newspaper article was published and proudly displayed for all to see at the department. The article title read "Fire Chief's 10 Fireplace Safety Tips." (I can't mention the name of the Chief and I wouldn't want to).
Well, when I read that article I was horrified because nine of the ten safety tips were flat-out wrong. In addition, any resident following these tips were almost certain to ignite their chimney, but they now had the Fire Department's seal of approval.
When I quietly took the article to the Chief and reviewed the tips, his immediate response was "our firefighters really need this information, can you give a class on this material?"
That's when I started giving presentations on this subject to suburban Chicago area fire departments.
As time went on and I became more experienced, information was added and before I knew it, I'd been giving the presentation for 25 years, but only locally in the Chicago area.
It was one of my buddies at the department that said to me...
"man, you gotta make a video of this training so department's around the country can get the same drill...it's good and important public information."My intention was to train firefighters on the information that I knew myself as a firefighter, they needed. It was for their knowledge and to better do their job and ultimately for the public's safety.
I often tell people, "this information is not chimney sweep school for the firefighter, this is solid, practical information that every firefighter should know. It's not just about chimney fires. There's more to it than that."
So with the money I made from my chimney business (and some serious assistance) I was able to get the DVD training professionally produced by a production company in Evanston, Illinois. It's not my presentation on video.
We made the training so firefighters will stay safe when these types of calls occur, and to accurately answer the public's questions when they arise. And at this time of the year...from my 30 years of experience, I know they will. It is getting cooler and people will be lighting fireplaces soon and, as you know, clothes dryer fires happen all year round, but are highest in the month of January.
Yours in Safety,
Dieter Bove'
Retired 30-veteran career firefighter
Bloomingdale Fire Protection District