Fireplace Makers, Inspectors to Study Chimney Cover Safety

Fireplace manufacturers and building inspectors who blame decorative but unauthorized chimney covers for four recent house fires in Moorpark will discuss the hazard at meetings in Fresno next month.

The city of Thousand Oaks has already banned the metal chimney covers or “shrouds,” Chief Building Inspector Barry J. Branagan said Tuesday, adding that he expects other cities will take similar measures.

“We’ve had no problems yet with the shrouds, but I’m looking at what’s been going on in Moorpark,” said Branagan.

Fire and building safety authorities have blamed four fires in late December and early January on metal covers used to camouflage spark arresters and chimney caps on prefabricated metal fireplaces.

The covers, which usually are added by developers of tract homes without the approval of the chimney manufacturers, can force heat and soot back into chimney flues, drying their wood frames and making them more flammable over time, authorities said.

The Moorpark fires caused no injuries and only minor damage, but they have prompted concern among fireplace manufacturers. Their trade association, the Washington, D.C.-based Wood Heating Alliance, has scheduled a special meeting on chimney shrouds in Fresno on Feb. 23.

Geoffrey Wurzel, the alliance’s spokesman, said the chimney shrouds probably are used nationwide but so far have been blamed for fires only in California.