Move scraps such as plywood unsuitable for burning away from your firewood pile

By Patric Hedlund, TME

Captain Richard Turner of the Kern County Fire Department had a message for local families this month.

Turner arrived behind KCFD Engine 58, KCFD Engine 357, his command unit and a Kern County Sheriff’s deputy in response to a 9-1-1 dispatch in Pine Mountain a half hour before dusk on March 6.

A grandmother, her sister, and three children (12, 10 and 8 years) had arrived to the family vacation home to have a slumber party next to the fireplace. The kids ran downstairs for wood and piled it into the large, open fireplace.

Very quickly a hot fire was…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Plywood burns hot, and is not safe to use for fireplace fires. Five firefighters, a captain and a sheriff’s deputy all responded to this chimney fire to be sure the family was safe.

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This is part of the March 19, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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