Fire officials fear the economic recession, loss of jobs and recent cold snap could mean more fires started from people trying to keep warm for as little money as possible.

Carroll County firefighters have been to six recent fires started from people using chimneys or wood-burning stoves that resulted in more than $160,000 in losses for the homeowners.

Most recently, Carroll County firefighters were sent to a house at 145 Castleman Road in Carrollton after 24-year-old Devin Adams narrowly escaped with her dogs from a fire sparked by a wood-burning stove about 4 a.m. Wednesday.

“Had it not been for her dogs barking to wake Ms. Adams up, she probably would not have made it out alive,” said Bud Benefield, deputy chief of Carroll County Fire Rescue. “This was a really close call.”

Benefield said the home had no working smoke detectors and the electricity had been disconnected - leaving he wood-burning heater in the living room as the only source of warmth from temperatures in the mid to upper teens.

Adams, who is staying with friends and family, was unharmed but her home and belongings were destroyed.

Benefield said unfortunately the cold weather and tighter budgets have prompted many people to try and heat their homes using alternative sources such as wood without first having their chimneys inspected.

“This is the third residential fire with significant damage involving wood heating that I have personally worked in the last two months - in addition to the chimney fires we have responded to during the last few days of cold weather,” he said. “This includes the two chimney fires on Monday alone. The return to wood heating as a primary heat source inside homes could be a sign of the tough economic times we are now experiencing.”

Benefield said that since temperatures have not fallen as low as they have been in recent years, many people may not be as familiar with how to correctly install, use and clean chimneys, fireplaces and wood stoves. Increasing fuel costs for centralized heating may also contribute to the drive to try the secondary heat sources.

“This week we had two chimney fires that had creosote buildup in them,” he said. “Creosote is a byproduct of smoke that gets on the chimney walls emitted from green and seasoned wood. We typically see more build up from slower-burning fires.”

Although fire officials believe more people have turned to wood as their heat source, not a single request has been made for the fire department to conduct a free chimney inspection. Officials said even as little as a quarter-inch of buildup can occur within two weeks of use and start a fire inside the flue.

“People need to set aside time for an inspection either by us or from a chimney-cleaning service,” Benefield said. “The main thing is if the chimney or wood heater is questionable or older and less frequently used then call. We almost had someone lose their life today from trying to heat their home.”

The cause of Wednesday’s fire was from the stove and possibly an attached vent pipe, although a closed flue damper, faulty equipment, magazines placed too close to the heat source and improper pipe installation were cited as the origin of recent fires.

Another aspect that has set house fires apart this season from past winters, Benefield said, is the extreme amount of damages these types of fires are having on the homes.

“We didn’t see this degree of damage as a result of wood burning heaters last year,” he said. “The degree is so much more, and these fires are lasting longer without being detected. Often is the home is in a rural area, it could last quite a while before anyone even knows the structure is on fire.”

It could seem difficult to detect if a chimney has caught fire when someone might be enjoying a cozy controlled fire in the hearth below. But Benefield said often the signs are there and sometimes even explosive.

“It could sound like a freight train or low-flying plane inside your chimney,” he said.

“It’s loud. We’ve had neighbors see flames shoot as high as eight feet from a chimney and run over to tell the people inside that the chimney is on fire. In a rural area, though, there might be no one nearby to warn the people inside about the fire.”

Another threat of a chimney fire, according to fire officials, is the chimney fire can ignite from creosote buildup without a fire present in the fireplace. A chimney fire can burn in excessive of 2,000 degrees - melting and cracking the surface.

“These type of heat-source fires are definitely on the increase this year,” he said. “If it’s someone that has not had a fire in years but decides to have one, they really need to have (their chimney) checked out. Even something as simple as a bird’s nest built in the chimney can lead to a devastating fire that could spread to the rest of house.”

Carrollton Fire Chief Jimmy Bearden said safety measures on modern electrical space heaters have most likely contributed to a reduction in house fires from those devices.

“Now days most of the electrical heaters have cut off features that shut it down if the device is tipped over or becomes too hot,” Bearden said.