how to shut down a OSLO 500

No Epa certified stove can be shut down 100%. Combustion air will always get into the stove. Getting it to cool down to 350 is normal if you had a decent load of wood in it. An overly hot chimney will add to the draft and pull slightly more air thru.

You could have removed the wood and placed the pieces outside in a metal ash bucket.

There are flares used to stop chimney fires. You could always buy one of those and keep it handy

The intake is at the rear bottom of the stove - wonder what the consequences of blocking that off would be?

Not sure, I guess if you stuck a glove or wad of insulation in there during an emergency it would just choke down the fire a whole lot.

If you choke the 3" round rear air intake it will slow it down even more. The other option would have been to remove the logs, but obviously that gets a little more dicey.

Closing down the primary air control will be a bad idea. I would let the stove run its course of burn because choking the stove down can only create creosote problems and dirty your glass up very fast. I would just take the logs outside in an ash receptacle too.

With all do respect... Who cares of dirty glass or creosote.?? Its a chimney fire. Pulling the wood out etc could create 1)more air for the fire. 2)Dropping the log on the floor as it will be flipping hot and start another fire. Just plug the the intake/limiting the oxygen to the fire. I will take a black glass over a black burnt floor or house any day. No matter what the case is, the chimney should be thoroughly cleaned and inspected anyways after an adventure like that. Glad all was OK.

As mentioned previously, there is really no way to completely block the air intake on an EPA stove. Even if you block the primary air intake, the combustion chamber has a fixed air intake port that cannot be easily accessed. If you indeed have a chimney fire, that fixed port will supply more than enough oxygen to sustain a chimney fire. Your best bet is to have your chimney properly cleaned and then burn hot fires and with well seasoned wood. If by chance you DO have an actual chimney fire, you should always keep a couple of Chimfex extinguishers on hand. Are you sure it was a chimney fire? When I first started using my non-cat stove, I used to think I was having chimney fires all the time until I realized (by reading this forum and observing my stove) that it was combustor in my stove firing off. It scared the hell out of me the first couple of times I heard it.

Without the wife looking, Snag a roll of tinfoil. Start balling it up so that is big enough to shove into the rear intake and stick there. When on fire, shove it up to block the hole and pray.

That's sure sounds like a chimney fire to me..... Before you get serious about using your stove again, you should first have your stovepipe and chimney professionally cleaned. After that, use well seasoned wood and burn very hot fires to keep your pipes clean. I know you've read this before but it's the truth...burning hot fires prevents excessive creosote build-up and greatly reduces your chance of a chimney fire in the future.

If removing the wood is too much of a task, keep a bucket of ash nearby incase you need to smother a fire with it.. a good idea for anyone.

I'll agree with those who said to block off the rear air intake. Shut down the air via the front lever, then stuff something non flamable in the air intake in the back of the stove. I'd practice hunting for it when the stove is nice and cold. When it hits the fan and the stove is hot, you won't want to go poking around there blindly. Once something block off that rear air, it'll choke it down pretty good.

I've never used those things you toss in the stove. I think the last thing you want to do is open the door once a chimney fire is in progress. Instead of the air entering the stove via a 4" hole, you've now got the entire front of the stove acting as a giant air intake. eeek!

Having been the one to suggest the rear intake, my only worry would be some sort of flashback - lots of hot wood, giving off plenty of volatiles, and no oxygen....

Just don't open that door...

Worst advice ever would be to remove the burning wood from the stove! imo With a chimney fire you're burning the crap that built up in chimney from poor burning practices, open the door and you're going to give that chimney fire even more air. Close the primary air, block the secondary air intake if accessible, maybe a quick door open to toss in a chimfex flare. In the past I've read others have tossed in a wet newspapers or using a fire extinguisher.

I agree with rdust. Removing burning logs from your stove will do NOTHING to mitigate a chimney fire. It is the creosote in the chimney that is burning and the ONLY way to put it out is to remove the oxygen supply. Although blocking the air intake with aluminum foil (or anything else you happen to use) will REDUCE the air supply, it will not eliminate it. The only viable alternative is to chemically extinguish the fire. You could try to use a fire extinguisher, but I doubt most people would be able to open the door of their stove with a raging chimney fire and shove an extinguisher up the flue (not to mention how friggin hot it gets when you open the front door). A Chimfex is probably your best bet...

burnt-out said:

I agree with rdust. Removing burning logs from your stove will do NOTHING to mitigate a chimney fire. It is the creosote in the chimney that is burning and the ONLY way to put it out is to remove the oxygen supply. Although blocking the air intake with aluminum foil (or anything else you happen to use) will REDUCE the air supply, it will not eliminate it. The only viable alternative is to chemically extinguish the fire. You could try to use a fire extinguisher, but I doubt most people would be able to open the door of their stove with a raging chimney fire and shove an extinguisher up the flue (not to mention how friggin hot it gets when you open the front door). A Chimfex is probably your best bet...

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Agree as well, but it's interesting to note that the VFD in my area has the standard practice of removing the burning fuel from the stove/insert/fireplace as the first step in trying to address a chimney fire. Makes no sense to me.

Don't know how well it works or the safety issues, but someone on here once suggested taking a thoroughly soaked newspaper ( like the Sunday paper) and put in in the stove on top of the buring wood. Sounds like it would quickly knock the fire down quite a bit at the least.

My own opinion . . . prevent the problem from happening in the first place . . . clean and inspect the chimney frequently, know how the stove behaves, don't leave the stove unattended with the air control wide open, etc. Two years in and I can't think of a single instance when I've thought I've needed to shut down the stove right then and there . . . unfortunately running a stove isn't like running an electric heater . . . no instant on, no instant off.

Quite honestly, in most cases I think I would be safer allowing my stove to continue through the burning process rather than attempting to pull out wood that is on fire and hauling it through the house . . . or risking a potential back-draft situation by starving the fire for oxygen . . . or opening up the firebox to toss in what-have you.

That said . . . for a chimney fire . . . if there was a clean-out in the case of a masonry chimney I would open up the clean out door and toss a half cup or so water on any hot cinders/creosote that invariably falls to the base of the clean-out. Water turns to steam . . . steam expands significantly and rises on the updraft . . . the fire in the chimney should be extinguished by the steam. Continue to do so with half cup increments (adding too much = too much steam in too little a space and the possibility of cracked mortar/clay tile) . . . or try blasting an ABC extinguisher up the chimney. Of course, it may go without saying, but the very first step should be calling 911.

If the woodstove is connected to a Class A chimney or has no clean out due to the direct connection of a flexible liner . . . and I wanted to extinguish the fire I would go to the roof and start dropping a half cup of water down the chimney or fire off an ABC extinguisher . . . realizing that this may not be all that effective due to the up draft. If I planned ahead I could make up Chimney Bombs consisting of ABC powder or baking soda in Ziplock Bags which I could toss down the chimney. Again, this would all be done after calling 911.

If the problem was not in the chimney itself and I wanted to stop the fire in the firebox for whatever reason . . . I would perhaps attempt to kill the fire by removing the oxygen by shutting down both the primary and secondary air . . . using the lever in one case and blocking the inlet in the second case. However, as mentioned, this would be an absolute final step if I was sure I had to stop the fire as soon as possible as this method poses a risk of burn and there is a potential for back draft . . . if the fire is starved for oxygen and goes into the smoldering phase and there is still enough heat and combustible products in the smoke a person who unwisely opens the firebox door may have a bit of surprise.

My own take . . . as I said earlier . . . maintain your stove, inspect and clean your chimney . . . burn seasoned wood . . . burn at the right Goldilocks temps -- not too hot, not too cold.