Neighbors Fireplace

[Microduck17]

Hello, I have a neighbor who I have been helping with brush hogging and cutting firewood. Her husband was a good friend of mine who unfortunately passed away 3 years ago. I mentioned to her last year that she should hire a professional chimney sweep to clean and inspect her fireplace and chimney. At that time I did not have the equipment to sweep her tall semi free standing rectangular chimney due to all my gear being setup for my 6 inch class A. Anyway she never had it swept and I was concerned so yesterday I I removed the damper in the top of the fireplace and was preparing to sweep it from the bottom up with my new soot eater when I noticed several things that didn't seem right. I stopped what I was doing and told her that she definitely needed to contact a chimney/fireplace professional.
There is some visible white fiber insulation and also some pretty deep finger sized holes in the cement above the damper. Here are some photos of the damage, sorry for the poor quality of the images but it was super dusty and awkward trying to get pictures. I'm looking for some general input and other peoples experiences with similar issues. Fireplaces and masonry are pretty far outside my knowledge and skills.
Thanks in advance for any information or advice.

 

[begreen]

Yes, it should be inspected by a pro with a camera all the way up the flue. It looks like some bandaid fixes there.

 

[bholler]

Hello, I have a neighbor who I have been helping with brush hogging and cutting firewood. Her husband was a good friend of mine who unfortunately passed away 3 years ago. I mentioned to her last year that she should hire a professional chimney sweep to clean and inspect her fireplace and chimney. At that time I did not have the equipment to sweep her tall semi free standing rectangular chimney due to all my gear being setup for my 6 inch class A. Anyway she never had it swept and I was concerned so yesterday I I removed the damper in the top of the fireplace and was preparing to sweep it from the bottom up with my new soot eater when I noticed several things that didn't seem right. I stopped what I was doing and told her that she definitely needed to contact a chimney/fireplace professional.
There is some visible white fiber insulation and also some pretty deep finger sized holes in the cement above the damper. Here are some photos of the damage, sorry for the poor quality of the images but it was super dusty and awkward trying to get pictures. I'm looking for some general input and other peoples experiences with similar issues. Fireplaces and masonry are pretty far outside my knowledge and skills.
Thanks in advance for any information or advice.

She had a fire it needs fully inspected