A build up of soot inside the chimney of Bendigo restaurant The Woodhouse caused a small fire on Saturday night.
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CFA were called to the restaurant in Williamson Street at 6.05pm to see embers blowing out the top of the chimney.
Senior Station Officer Rick O’Callaghan said the owners and staff members of The Woodhouse contained the fire and partially evacuated the building.
“They have done the right thing. They called us and blocked off the fire so there were no embers coming out of the fireplace into their building,” Senior Station Officer O’Callaghan said.
“Everybody was okay, diners were still able to dine and we used a bit of water to extinguish what was inside the chimney.
“There was no damage, so restaurant got out of it pretty well. We haven’t evacuated everyone out, just around the area of the open fire.”
Smoke coming into building and the roaring of the fire in chimney alerted staff to the fire.
Senior Station Officer O’Callaghan said chimney fires were common if chimneys were not cleaned.
“The owner gets this cleaned twice a year and it was due for a good clean out,” he said.
“It happens to houses where chimneys haven’t been cleaned or used for a number of years.”