Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - What happens when combustables are put to close to a wood pellet stove?

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Don2222

Don2222

Minister of Fire
Feb 1, 2010
9,117
Salem NH
Hello

Unfortunately not everyone knows!! This house is in the San Fransico Bay Area.
Fire started at 4 AM.
Luckily the family of 5 on Walnut St all got out safely because they recently replaced the battteries in their smoke detectors! The house is a total loss!!

See Video!!
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=weather&id=8508272

A devastating fire tore through a Martinez home known for its festive holiday decorations. Just before 4 a.m. Tuesday, the fire started inside the home that was being heated by a pellet stove during the coldest night of the season and fortunately the family of five escaped when the fire broke out.

The house was fully engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived. Smoke alarms, which a fire official said had just been replaced the day before, awakened the residents who then escaped. The fire marshal told ABC7 the pellet stove was being used to heat the house. He said the fire started when combustibles placed too close to the stove ignited. Gone was the so-called Christmas house, a home that was transformed every December into a wonderland of lights, sounds and magic of the Christmas season. The estimated damages to the house are $350,000.
 

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I wonder what kind of stove it was? In my case, you'd have to have 'combustibles' laying against the front glass to have any chance to ignite. Very strange. Mention was made of the house being a festive decorative Christmas house but no mention made of possible overloading of electrical outlets or circuits due to faulty wiring of those 'festive' decorations. Easier to blame it on the lowly pellet stove.
 
Horrible loss, luckily nobody killed, good idea to ensure nothing combustible near the stoves. I put mine in an open kitchen. Nothing near it.
 
probably the dealer's fault....most likely they didnt instruct the end user not to put combustibles near the stove.....
 
blame the pellet stove........
not the hundred of flammable decorations imported from china
 
A total loss in the Bay Area estimated at 350K? I think the reporter is smoking something or missed a 0.

Glad no one was hurt....I am a newbie and went to see some stoves and inserts yesterday. I was quite surprised at how cool they were to the touch, except of course for the blowing vents. Could the people have set papers or laundry on top of the stove? Or have you all seen your stoves get that hot to touch/be near?
 
If the units are out of low burns a lot of them get very hot and the area in front of the glass produces a lot of radiant heat.

Those warnings and clearances in the manuals are to keep you safe.
 
Glad to hear no one was hurt. And common sense would dictate that we NOT place combustibles near a piece of appliance that has the sole purpose of producing heat! I too would blame the person that put the combustibles too close but if it's a child, the parents need to be more aware and more diligent about that fact. Then again, maybe the owners are just as ignorant as the children, hard to say now. I'm just curious how they came to the conclusion so quickly that combustibles ignited near the stove. There could have been a number of causes and like another poster said about overloading circuits and electrical fires, that's more probable to me then blaming it on the pellet stove. Moral of the story, pellet stoves are not set and go appliances. I'm not talking about just the settings on the stove but also the surrounding, which includes ZERO combustibles near it. And my children all know this otherwise they will suffer the wrath of a very unhappy mom!
 
mfglickman said:
A total loss in the Bay Area estimated at 350K? I think the reporter is smoking something or missed a 0.

Glad no one was hurt....I am a newbie and went to see some stoves and inserts yesterday. I was quite surprised at how cool they were to the touch, except of course for the blowing vents. Could the people have set papers or laundry on top of the stove? Or have you all seen your stoves get that hot to touch/be near?
Click to expand...

Hello

Yes, Smokey is correct. If the stove is on high then the front does get hot and part of the top.

I have both of mine on a raise hearth with an over hang. This is an extra means of safety that I highly recommend! Since most people will bump into the raised hearth before they come close to the front and hot glass, it prevents accidental injury.

When I stayed at a Holiday Inn a customer got too close to the glass of the Heat N Glo. His ski jacket touched the glass and was set on fire! Luckily no injuries here but if it was on a raised hearth then it might not have happened.

Also see how the hearth like this can be built with some plywood and 2x4s
See link here >> https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/84018/

See pic below:
 

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If my house ever catches fire, I hope its a total loss too. New house via insurance > half burned fire house and months of trying to get it rebuilt while living with the inlaws, or worse. lol
 
mfglickman said:
A total loss in the Bay Area estimated at 350K? I think the reporter is smoking something or missed a 0.
Click to expand...
350K may be right. That refers to the cost to replace the house. The land is not included in the damage assessment.
 
im not so sure it was combustibles near the stove. they would have to either be placed right on the stove or have fallen on to the stove. seriously, who would do that? i've actually tested this when i first got my stove, because i wanted to see how far away from the stove my other stuff needed to be. and sometimes i get bored.... but anyway, with the stove on high it wasnt even able to light up a tissue placed anywhere on the stove or vent. it did however after a while slightly brown it. i think the decorations were the culprit, probably a short, or overloaded outlet.

unless they were warming up gas on top of the stove. a guy in my town was killed 10 yrs ago when his pickup truck was frozen and he tried to remedy it by warming up a gallon of gas in a pot on the stove.
 
I would be surprised if there were still decorations up and on at 4:00 AM on January 17, but who knows.
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
I would be surprised if there were still decorations up and on at 4:00 AM on January 17, but who knows.
Click to expand...

Oh crap...It's January already!! Better tell the wife to get rid of the brown Xmas tree!!
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
I would be surprised if there were still decorations up and on at 4:00 AM on January 17, but who knows.
Click to expand...
Hey Smokey, we ARE talking San Francisco!!!!!
 
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