Neighbor's chimney fire

Yup, some fire dept. work via the stove, especially with tough, snow covered roofs. These are experienced firefighters in full protective gear( or should be) that have the training and proper equipement, fight chimney fires every year, have the ability to chase fires in walls etc. and of course it's not their home so they stay calm and do a great job. But even then I've seen some ffs open the stove, hit the fire and send sparks all over a nearby rug. Never good to play surgeon, pilot or firefighter. Back to chimex, if it works do you wait to see if the fire has migrated to the attic or walls or just hope. We could beat this topic to death, theories are fun, but clean chimneys save lives and homes. Be safe.
Ed

cleaned the chimney today, got about a soda can worth of black dry powder no matter how hard i scrub i cant get the inside as shiney as the outside of the ss pipe. maybe the rutland poly brush isnt that good.

gettng it ready to put the princess where the king was. sad about the smaller size, but happy about trying a cat stove. now i can put the king in my pole barn, i will feel allot safer with it then with the barrel stove i was making for it.

cleaned it last in september or october i believe. burned a cord to a 2 cords of cottonwood, and a buncha pallets since then

I don't know if practices have changed over the years, but during one of the many chimney fires at my parents' neighbor's house, the firefighters said to put wet newspaper or a wet towel in the stove during a chimney fire. The idea is to choke the chimney fire out with steam.

colebrookman said:

You mean the manufacturing facility that burned down. You're between a rock and a hard place. Don't get hurt or need a medical emergency either. We use baggies filled with dry chemical, same as used in the fire extinguishers. Drop one or two down the chimney and the work well. A shot or two of an extinguisher stops the stove fire but be careful that you don't blow flaming wood out the stove. Just crack the door then shut it tight and don't re open. And we all tend to panic when it's our house on fire. Try a local fire dept. for powdered dry chemical but today we all worry about liability. Would I recommend the above instead of calling the fire dept., no way, unless you have great insurance and don't mind loosing everything. Either way, people and pets out and stay out. Dry wood, clean and safe chimneys rarely burn. Be safe.
Ed

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+1 . . . could also try the wet newspaper trick . . . on older hook-ups with the stove connected to a clay liner we would often put a bit of water on any hot coals or rather creosote that had dropped down to the clean-out.

However I think Colebrookman's last line is the most relevant . . . newbies ask about what to do if their chimney catches on fire all the time here at hearth.com . . . and the truth is if you use seasoned wood and check/clean your chimney you will never have to meet Colebrookman, Steve or myself . . . unless you come to our Open House during Fire Prevention Month. I would wager that the vast majority of folks here at hearth.com who are burning proper wood and maintaining their chimney have not had a single chimney fire . . .

You know with all the financial struggles local fire departments have, why not have them clean chimneys as a side revenue generator? They've got the know how, bucket lift, ladders etc.

Chettt said:

You know with all the financial struggles local fire departments have, why not have them clean chimneys as a side revenue generator? They've got the know how, bucket lift, ladders etc.

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And put the poor chimney sweeps out of business?

Actually I know a lot of firefighters who work part time as sweeps . . . and in the community where I live a number of area fire departments will sweep a chimney for a donation . . . typically only in the Fall though.

firefighterjake said:

Chettt said:

You know with all the financial struggles local fire departments have, why not have them clean chimneys as a side revenue generator? They've got the know how, bucket lift, ladders etc.

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...in the community where I live a number of area fire departments will sweep a chimney for a donation . . . typically only in the Fall though.

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Hm..good to know.

Most Fire depts. in our area don't clean chimneys because of liability. Plus a sweep will use a camera to verify the condition of the chimney. A good sweep is well worth their cost for safety and peace of mind. Be safe.
Ed

Speaking of chimney fires and good or bad ways to stop them, my dad mentioned one of the more memorable chimney fires from his neighbor. The neighbor was drunk and tried to battle his chimney fire by running a garden hose down the chimney. He didn't say if it stopped the chimney fire, but did mention two other things it accomplished. First, it spilled dirty, ashy water out of his insert and all over his living room. Second, as he kept shoving more of the hose down the chimney, the hose just kept burning away. He put several feet of hose down the chimney, but pulled up very few feet of hose as the rest had burned.

Growing up I had some Redneck friends (they are still friends of mine) who would have frequent chimney fires, when the boys were teenagers they used to see who could load the most wood and junk in the wood stove and to see who could get the flue pipe to glow red or the chimney to catch on fire. Like the 4 teenagers who took turns starting their chimney on fire, with nothing more then a sigh from their parents, I too thought this was "awesome" at the time. After 1 particular chimney fire, the boys didn't have the fire completely out, they didn't realize the fire spread from the flue pipe to the attic; they left the house, and the house burnt to the ground, literally to the ground. It was one heck of a fire, you could see the flames and smoke for miles. Now years later Im still friends with them and all 4 have houses of their own, and 2 of the 4 still burn wood and don't take care of their chimneys, last year the one almost lost his own house by once again having multiple chimney fires; he still believes that a chimney fire is the best way to clean it. I reckon his family (including his 5 kids) will someday be homeless like he was back 11 years ago when he was a 18.

Only if they are lucky enough to survive Bet the smoke and CO batteries are taken out because they keep going off or they needed them for their radios. One thing for the adults to play stupid but as we've seen in Ct. others end up paying the price. Be safe.
Ed

colebrookman said:

Only if they are lucky enough to survive Bet the smoke and CO batteries are taken out because they keep going off or they needed them for their radios. One thing for the adults to play stupid but as we've seen in Ct. others end up paying the price. Be safe.
Ed

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Yeah I know. Heres the thing, while John is careless with his wood stove and chimney he has smoke alarms in all the bedrooms, hallways, etc. He's weird like that, nearly burns down the house several times a year but has smokes everywhere as well as multiple fire extinguishers. He's the type of guy that also changes the batteries in the smokes at least once a year and I don't know anyone as meticulous as he is about properly disposing of his wood stove ashes. His house is a run down old 1980's split level style house, so Im positive that the smokes are not hard wired like a new home would be. I don't get how or why they are so careless with their chimney and over firing their stove.