By Stan Finger
The Wichita Eagle

MAIZE, Kan. — She saw the hot coal fall from the fireplace into a hole in the floor, and went to the kitchen to get some water.

By the time the elderly woman returned to the living room of her mobile home in Maize on Monday night, the fire was out of control. She escaped without injury, but her home was destroyed.

Fire officials say the fire is a reminder of how important it is to have fireplaces inspected before using them.

"This one probably shouldn't have been burned in, but she didn't know that," Sedgwick County Fire Marshal Tim Millspaugh said.

The woman had moved into the mobile home the day before, he said. Her daughter and son-in-law had just bought it for her.

She used the fireplace to ward off the cold. She was adding another log to the fire when the coal dropped into the hole. Icy roads slowed fire trucks responding to the fire, which caused an estimated $20,000 in damage, Millspaugh said.

"It was kind of sad, because she lost a lot of keepsakes and things she remembered people by," he said. "The houses can be rebuilt and redone, but it's hard to replace that stuff."

Millspaugh called the mobile home's fireplace "just a poorly constructed setup."

People need to check their fireplaces for cracks or holes, whether they're new or have been used for years, Wichita Fire Lt. Stuart Bevis said.

While the "fire box" is designed to withstand the tremendous heat that can build up, Bevis said, gaps or holes created by poor construction or expansion and contraction allow flames or embers to reach combustible materials outside the fire box.

"The best thing is to have a fireplace professional come out," Bevis said. "When they clean your flue, they can look over your fireplace."

Homeowners should make sure the inspectors are certified through the Chimney Safety Institute of America, said Melissa Glass-Settle of Home Safe Hearth and Chimney.

Copyright 2008 The Wichita Eagle