One point to remember when starting a fire in a fireplace: Make sure the vent is open so the smoke goes up the chimney.
A resident of an apartment at 402 Oak Grove Ave. near Laurel Street apparently forgot to do this shortly before 4 p.m. on April 9, and left her apartment after it filled with smoke from a Duraflame log burning in her fireplace, said Capt. Mike Sweeney of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.
The apartment complex manager called 911 after seeing smoke, Capt. Sweeney said.
Over a period of 10 minutes, firefighters doused the log with water, opened the chimney vent, checked the attic, and cleared the apartment of smoke using fire department fans, Capt. Sweeney said. No one was injured and there was no damage to the apartment, he added.
Before she left her apartment, the “young lady” who lived there took the time to open the windows and remove the batteries from the smoke detectors, Capt. Sweeney said.
She didn’t know what to do, he said. “Instead of leaving, she should just have called us.” There was no danger of smoke inhalation because she had had “enough sense to open the windows,” he added.
Handling this fire were three units from the Menlo Park district, one from the Palo Alto Fire Department and a battalion commander, Capt. Sweeney said.
