Crime & Safety

Boulder Creek Firefighters Contain Chimney Blaze on Highway 9

The cause of the fire appeared to be deterioration in the rock-and-mortar chimney, which allowed heat and smoke to get into a wall, the local fire chief said.

Firefighters with Boulder Creek Fire Protection District responded to a chimney fire at a home Tuesday morning on Highway 9 northwest of Scotts Valley, the district chief said.

The fire was reported at 7:06 a.m. Feb. 26 at 15651 Highway 9, near the Mountain Store in Boulder Creek, according to firescan.net.

"It was a residence," Chief Kevin McClish of the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District told Scotts Valley Patch in a phone interview. "We had four engine crews, about 18 firefighters.

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"There were no injuries," McClish said. "One exterior wall and one section of roofing were severely damaged. It was a single story, about 1,500 square feet. We had the fire contained in about one hour."

The cause of the fire appeared to be deterioration in the chimney, McClish said.

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"The structure had an old rock fireplace and chimney, and some of the mortar had deteriorated, allowing smoke and heat to get through a mortar joint and into the wall."

A father and daughter were at home at the time for the fire and the father called 911, McClish said. They were able to evacuate safely.

"For people that have fireplaces and wood stoves, I highly recommend they get their chimney checked once a year," McClish said. "In this case a check on the chimney may have prevented this."

Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading further inside the structure, so that the home was not a total loss, or further into into the mountain forest neighborghood, McClish said.

The Boulder Creek Fire Protection District is staffed by volunteer firefighters.

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