Just had a chimney fire.

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Mercury220

Mercury220

Member
May 27, 2010
72
Wilmington, DE
I was having trouble getting my stove going tonight so I superloaded on kindling. I stoked the fire and the temp climbed. I then heard what sounded like hail coming from my chimney pipe. I assumed it was a chimney fire so I closed the door and closed the damper. I ran outside and saw glowing embers on the underside of my weather cap. The double wall black pipe from my stove got to 160 degrees. I went out on the roof and the pipe was around 30. What should I do from here? I have only had the stove installed for a month and a half.
 
In reality, when one thinks there is a chimney fire (either your own or a neighbors) the first course of action should be to call the fire company.

Are you certain it is out? Did you remove the contents of the stove? My immediate concern is that you and the family are safe right now. If that obligation is met.....

Don't panic, a proper install and chimney can handle this and be just fine. The premium course of action would be to next call a sweep to clean the chimney and inspect w/ a camera / double check that the install was done correctly. If it was done by a pro you truly trust, call them back. If you were skeptical, call on a new set of eyes.

Without being there I can't tell how bad it actually was, so that advice given is the safest course of action.

Assuming you are certain the system is absolutely solid, and the fire was small, then a thorough cleaning of the chimney by yourself / inspection w/ a good high powered light (like a cordless million or better spotlight) should be sufficient to get you to start burning again.

The biggest issue is to figure out what happened in the last month and a half to have gotten you into this situation tonight. The kindling fire was simply the straw that broke the camel. To keep this from ever happening again, something needs to be addressed. Usually it's an issue with poorly seasoned wood. Other times with good fuel the stove is run too cool consistently to keep things clean. Other factors such as an oversize or inappropriate type chimney could be a cause.

Regardless, double / triple check that this unit is stone cold everywhere before ruling out calling the fire dept and then clean it and reevaluate. Lots of folks around to help you through the process. Pictures always help make troubleshooting things over the net easier if you can provide them when appropriate.

pen
 
I had been trying to get the fire started for about 2 hours... (I know sounds ridiculous) Then I finally just loaded the stove full of kindling. The temp of the stove rose from 200 to 380 in about 3 minutes. That is when I heard the noise. After I closed everything up and ran outside, I over heard my neighbor talking to somebody saying "Now it's glowing" Which is when I saw the orange embers floating away from the pipe. The whole ordeal seriously lasted about 5 minutes. The sound stopped, temps are fine.

I have been primarily burning year old cherry/oak/cedar. There is the occasional damp log that makes it on. My chimney and stove is only a month and a half old. It was installed by the best in my state.

So you suggest I not relight the unit and call the installer?
 
Mercury220 said:
So you suggest I not relight the unit and call the installer?
Click to expand...

The 100 bucks or so for a cleaning and inspection is the wisest course of action that you can take before relighting that fire. At the very least, the chimney needs to be cleaned before you burn again regardless of who does the job.

If you are new to chimney cleaning, hiring it out the first time and watching / learning from the guy is money well spent so that you can see how it's done if you want to do it alone next time. If you want to do it on your own as you are confident in the install, then we can help you with that too.

It sounds to me like you had a partially plugged chimney cap that was causing you to have a hard time getting the fire going.

Do you have a thermometer on the stove top or a probe in that double wall pipe? If so, what sort of temps do you run consistently during the active part of the fire? How long does it take usually to get up to those temps?

pen
 
Sort out your wood. Year old oak is waaay to green, it needs probably another two years. Your wood must be way to green. Excessive build up causing reduced draft and the green wood were what made it so hard to start.
 
I do not have a probe in the double wall but normally the exterior is around 100 degrees. My stove burns around 450-550. I can normally get the stove up to temp from a cold start in 2 hours

I really believe my error to not starting the fire correctly from the beginning. I was half assing the start not using enough kindling. I had a very small log struggling to burn for about 2 hours. I suppose this caused all the creosote to get ready to burn. With my kindling packed in the stove, it lit super fast and I guess the flames traveled up the pipe.

Should I really need a cleaning after a month and a half? Would the creosote have burned off during this fire? The reason I ask is because we are supposed to get a snow storm tonight and my furnace isn't working correctly, very cold.
 
A poor start to tonight's fire did not cause the creosote to form which gave you what was probably a chimney fire. It takes time, even as little as a few weeks, for stuff to accumulate to get to the point of a fire starting if burning habits / fuels are not up to par.

It's your home, but I cannot recommend you starting that stove again w/out an inspection in good conscience. Last winter I thought I was having a chimney fire as I heard a crazy sound from the stove pipe I had never heard in my life before. Since I knew the pipe was clean from doing a sweep the week before, I couldn't believe it was a chimney fire but I had to check anyway. With the stove still going, 2 manhattan's in me, dark out, and single digit temps, up on the roof I go. Pulled the cap, clean, looked down, no smoke, no accumulation. Put things back together, came back in the house w/out falling off the snow covered roof and used a lit wooden match to realize that the sound I was hearing was air being sucked into the stove pipe joints. I had installed a liner which improved my draft a few months earlier, and it was causing the sound I had heard. Had I not used that match, and a ove-glove on my hand to block the air leak and confirm that was the sound, the next action would have been to empty the stove and do a sober evaluation in the morning regardless of what I saw on the roof.

Point is, I wouldn't have gone any further with a fire w/out that inspection. To me that is crucial. W/out looking you could have a piece of creosote 1/2 blocking the chimney, cap could still be clogged, who knows. It's one of those things that is worth erring on the side of caution for. A quick inspection and you could be good to go, or find something that scares the chit out of you. Only one way to know.

pen
 
I'll add, if you are uncertain at all about the furnace's safety, and now are uncertain about the wood stove's, good old Walmart has got to be open 24/7 in your neck of the woods. Run out, pick up a space heater or two, set them up safely for the night to keep things at least maintained for a bit, and then make it right tomorrow.

pen
 
The hail sound you heard was creosote burning off your flue pipe...prolly cleaner now.
There had to be a reason your fire did not want to burn or even light up...that was the time to look..for sure if it had not been a prob before.
I agree with pen..have it checked out.
Something has to be very wrong to have that happen a month and a half into it.
Could be wood..air leaks into the flue..wrong connectors..something or a few somethings..get it checked out by someone else rather then the original installer.
If something is found..hen get the first guy back to fix it right..just my opinion.
Don't take chances with fire...it can burn you.
 
If your Oak has only been split and stacked for a year it wouldn't cause that much build up in a month and a half. What kinda stove do you have? I have seen some cat stoves build up like crazy in a very short time, due to being shut down way too soon, and wet wood. You should look into getting a moisture meter so you know for sure.
 
Mercury220 said:
I had a very small log struggling to burn for about 2 hours.
Click to expand...

If this is a normal way for you to burn for the past month, that could be your problem. Generally you want a full stove that burns through a full cycle without smoldering.

You say your wood is a year old - is that split and stacked (under cover) for a year? Where does the "occasional damp piece" come from?
 
Did you buy the wood from a firewood dealer who said it was seasoned for a year or did you split and stack it yourself for a year? If you ordered it from a dealer chances are that it wasn't split until you ordered it, even though it might have been cut a year ago, and it's still very green. If the splits are heavy and don't have much cracking on the ends it's probably not seasoned very long. You could always get a moisture meter from Lowe's or Harbor Freight, split a piece in half and check the moisture content. I bet your oak is in the 35% range when it should be more like 20%.
 
"I have been primarily burning year old cherry/oak/cedar"
My guess is some of the wood is OK but he is not burning correctly, does not sound like he knows much about the flue temps he was running.
 
oldspark said:
"I have been primarily burning year old cherry/oak/cedar"
My guess is some of the wood is OK but he is not burning correctly, does not sound like he knows much about the flue temps he was running.
Click to expand...


What would 160f be inside a double wall pipe?
I guess the 30f was the pipe temp on the pipe at the roof.
 
HotCoals said:
oldspark said:
"I have been primarily burning year old cherry/oak/cedar"
My guess is some of the wood is OK but he is not burning correctly, does not sound like he knows much about the flue temps he was running.
Click to expand...


What wold 160f be inside a double wall pipe?
I guess the 30f was the pipe temp on the pipe at the roof.
Click to expand...
160 degrees on the outside of double wall means what temp on the flue gas?
 
oldspark said:
HotCoals said:
oldspark said:
"I have been primarily burning year old cherry/oak/cedar"
My guess is some of the wood is OK but he is not burning correctly, does not sound like he knows much about the flue temps he was running.
Click to expand...


What wold 160f be inside a double wall pipe?
I guess the 30f was the pipe temp on the pipe at the roof.
Click to expand...
160 degrees on the outside of double wall means what temp on the flue gas?
Click to expand...
That's what I was asking you.
 
Dont know thats why its best to use a probe with double wall, my whole point was HE did not know either.
 
oldspark said:
Dont know thats why its best to use a probe with double wall, my whole point was HE did not know either.
Click to expand...
Yeah..but 160 inside a double wall must be somewhat hot I guess.
I'm glad I stayed with single for my little run to the second floor.
 
I know that it is not proper netiquette for a first time poster to jump in with an opinion, but I just can't help but wonder if there was a blockage from some kind of an animal nest, like a bird or a squirrel. As a bricklayer, I came across a couple of nests while rebuilding chimney's
 
Realstone said:
I know that it is not proper netiquette for a first time poster to jump in with an opinion, but I just can't help but wonder if there was a blockage from some kind of an animal nest, like a bird or a squirrel. As a bricklayer, I came across a couple of nests while rebuilding chimney's
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with your post..good thought!
 
HotCoals said:
Realstone said:
I know that it is not proper netiquette for a first time poster to jump in with an opinion, but I just can't help but wonder if there was a blockage from some kind of an animal nest, like a bird or a squirrel. As a bricklayer, I came across a couple of nests while rebuilding chimney's
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with your post..good thought!
Click to expand...
+ 1 post away, maybe the glowing was a squirrel with its ass on fire. :cheese:
 
oldspark said:
HotCoals said:
Realstone said:
I know that it is not proper netiquette for a first time poster to jump in with an opinion, but I just can't help but wonder if there was a blockage from some kind of an animal nest, like a bird or a squirrel. As a bricklayer, I came across a couple of nests while rebuilding chimney's
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with your post..good thought!
Click to expand...
+ 1 post away, maybe the glowing was a squirrel with its ass on fire. :cheese:
Click to expand...

A new logo for the Morso?
 
160 on the outside of a double wall about 20" up my stove is ~500-550 flue gas when sustained for at least an hour or so
Hottest I've ever seen it was about 200 and that was with 950 flue gas temp for about 2 hours (final stove break in)

Cleaning my chimney tomorrow.... Been about a month and a half so far for me burning a bunch of dry softwood. Last night some of the pallet 4x4s I used took quite a long time to light off with a hot bed of coals... the glass got pretty gooky even when on high... I burned the stove hot for a good while (as hot as it could anyway...), in hopes to drive off as much moisture as I could! Then I checked the other wood that was with it only to find it was extremely damp... some rain/snow must've sneaked under with all the winds we've been getting... Only thing I can think of.
 
Last night I spaced out checking the fire after a reload and thought my wife had checked it when she walked by. Nope, she ignored the raging blaze and about 5 minutes later the smoke detectors went off with a flue temp of 1200F. No panic, all it needed was to turn down the air. But I'm thinking of installing a flue temp alarm now.
 
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