The owners of traditional thatched cottages who install wood-burning stoves are running a serious risk of having a house fire.
That was the message from the Conservation Officer of Limerick City and County Council this week, when he told a meeting of elected members of the council that a number of the county’s thatched cottages had been lost to fire.
Conservation Officer, Tom Cassidy was addressing a request to members of the KIlmallock and Cappamore district of the council to remove a listed thatch cottage from the record of protected structures.
He told the meeting that ten buildings have been lost lost to fires from the protected structures record in Limerick in the last five years.
“In many cases, the fires can be attributed to wood-burning stoves being installed. The problem is that in Ireland, we’re not very good at seasoning our wood for two years,” Mr Cassidy told the meeting.
“Wood that hasn’t been properly seasoned still contains sap and this adheres to the inside of the flues and catches fire. A wind lifts the material and the thatch goes up.
“This happens around two years after a wood burning stove has been installed,” he explained.
Mr Cassidy said that the high heat generated by burning wood in a stove can contribute to the hazard.
“People should be aware that installing a wood-burning stove in a protected structure requires planning permission. There’s a reason we require people to do these things. Installing a wood burning stove can be the death-knell of a thatched house,” he told the meeting.
Asked whether it was possible to control such modifications, Mr Cassidy said his department “does not have enough staff to go around knocking on doors and asking people if they have installed a wood stove”.
He told members of the area committee that there are currently more than 200 thatched cottages in county Limerick.
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