Stove Fire burnt my old house down :( Be careful!

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bsj425

bsj425

Burning Hunk
Jul 17, 2011
172
North Pole Alaska
The house I lived in for years and JUST sold 2 weeks ago. The new owners were wood stove "newbs". Owners lit a fire and fell asleep with the door cracked open. I have a few close friends on the fire fighting crew that helped put it out and told me about it. The stove was cleaned professionally and inspected as terms of our closing so it couldn't have been creosote. Either a log popped and sent an ember out the door or something. Sad that the house I put so much money blood sweat and tears into is a total loss no more than a month after I moved out. Just glad they got out safe and no one was hurt/ killed.

fire_2.jpg


http://www.webcenter11.com/?q=content/structure-fire-destroys-north-pole-home
 
Very sad and so avoidable. I'm glad no one was hurt.
 
:(;sickThis is terrible to hear.
 
That is a reminder of how important safety is when it comes to burning. I lot of stoves use the extra airflow from a cracked open door during startup. You can see here how important it is to not to leave it unattended.
 
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Side question - is that the stove in your avatar or is that in your new place?
 
How sad. I can't imagine burning down a house before making a first mortgage payment. Hope they had good insurance
 
and on the other side,,,,great to have the paperwork proving it was not the sellers fault.
 
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This is one of the hardest ways to learn a lesson. Good that it was only the house.
 
:-(
 
Good God!
Same thing happened to my neighbor. He moved up here to the NC mountains from Florida, he didn't know anything about wood stoves. He put a wood stove into an existing metal fireplace. Second time he lit the stove, he stoked it up and went off to work. At 9:30 am his house burned down.
 
Holy forking shirt. Property can be replaced, lives can't. However, I would suggest that you immediately document statements regarding the owners cracking the door and then falling asleep. Save the documentation regarding the stove inspection and cleaning as if it were gold. The Fire Marshall's report is public record and you can get a copy when it is ready. The reason I'm saying this is that the insurance carrier for the new homeowners is going to be looking at everyone and everything for subrogration. Cover your arse. I know it's not comforting information, but forewarned is forearmed.
 
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richg said:
Holy forking shirt. Property can be replaced, lives can't. However, I would suggest that you immediately document statements regarding the owners cracking the door and then falling asleep. Save the documentation regarding the stove inspection and cleaning as if it were gold. The Fire Marshall's report is public record and you can get a copy when it is ready. The reason I'm saying this is that the insurance carrier for the new homeowners is going to be looking at everyone and everything for subrogration. Cover your arse. I know it's not comforting information, but forewarned is forearmed.
Click to expand...

Not necessary at all. The folks needing to be covering "their arse" are the pros that inspected and cleaned the fireplace during the sale process.
 
So sad. A good reminder for all of us to be careful. We all get so much joy from a good stove but it is so dangerous if not handled properly.
 
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Sounds like it was user error. If a log rolled out of the stove or an ember popped out and ignited a nearby combustible a thermometer is not going to detect it.
 
bsj425 said:
the stove in the avatar was the stove.
Click to expand...

Interesting, looks like a will protected hearth as well as noncombustible surroundings, obviously though something went seriously wrong.
 
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