It was SL fault trying to steal my thread, you mean black steam that smelt of coal and made pea soup don't get that much now do we
Never did in our house, my dad sent me up once a week to sweep it!! Not necessarily putting the fire out beforehand
Some people would deliberately set fire to their chimney to save on chimney sweep bills. Not very environmentally friendly though! But no-one really cared in those days! And often attracted the attention of the fire brigade ... usually when it got out of hand!