Chimney Fire Question

The 'bad' part is the possibility of extension to your house. If the chimney gets hot enough, it could cause the walls of your house to catch fire.

well...in the best case scenario thats about it....in the worst...the house decides to join in the fun. The potential for the chimney to fail is real. Heat transferring to the wood structure touching the chimney is real. Chimneys collapse from the heat, or the flue tiles can fall in blocking the chimney driving combustion gases into the house. There's all kinds of bad things that can happen. IN some circles...if pine was the culprit....impotence, or a desire to watch Dr. Phil has been reported (snicker snicker......I made that up right there)

And, of course, sparks flying from said chimney fire. And, overheating stove which causes warpage or even some breaks.

I had one last season while still heating with an old log wood stove. Had just single wall stove pipe all the way out (Before I discovered Hearth.com and started learning). It was early in the morning and my wife was in the den with me looking at something on the computer. All of the sudden heard a furious popping noise and said "Honey, if your having popcorn for breakfast, I recommend you go check it ! That was one of the scariest moments of my life. Stood there dumbfounded for a minute until I remembered reading about extinguishing chimney fires on the internet somewhere. Instantly ran to the kitchen and got a small glass of water and dumped it into the stove. The steam put it out right away. Needless to say, that set up is gone for good. Oddly enough there are many old timers in my area that have the same set up and are still burning or "living on the edge". I cringe now every time I pass a home with a single wall pipe strapped to the side of it.

I had one this week.
Cracking and popping in the stove pipe - stove pipe smoking from paint burning - walls and other objects near the stove much hotter than they have ever been
No train sound for me
No over heating of the stove - stayed at about 650 the whole time
Minor as chimney fires go.


Check that pipe often
Get interconnected smoke detectors

With any chimney fire the first thing to do is call the fire dept. Houses have burned to the ground and people have gotten hurt or worst when deciding to play fireman. Then, if you wish to do something and the family is safe, use caution. If it's out when the fire dept. arrives they can still scan the walls for hot spots with their thermal camera. But if you've waited to call and the O SH.T moment happens,,,, Be safe.
Ed

Just had a chim fire last week (orig. brick FP, s/s chimney). Posted about it. In brief, yes it roared. Fortunately it did not spread. Now s/s chimney is shot (see other post). After chimney fire is out and stove / FP is cold, carefully inspect or have a pro do so. Inspect both chimney and stove.

Peace,
- Sequoia