Affraid To Leave The House?

[firefighterjake]

Thank you for this post -- If you have read any of my posts you know I have had tremendous burn anxiety - don't like the feeling of not being able to manipulate those secondary flames when the stove is closed up -- Hate leaving my dog(Buffy) at home with this raging inferno - I even put a note on the door with her picture asking the firefighters to save her -- hey, what does it hurt? If they don't have to come, they won't know. Anyway, you have all been very informative and encouraging over the last couple of months. If this is a bell shaped learning curve, my bell has turned over and I'm stuck in the bottom -- everything I know from past stove burning is irrelevant.
Keep up the great posts!

Buffygirl
New Jotul Oslo burner-Fall of 09

Even better are the PetFinder stickers . . . I believe you can get them at Petco . . . kind of like the old Tot Finder stickers that most firefighters no longer use. However, instead of sticking these stickers in the window put them on your entry doors. Indicate how many pets you have and what type . . . much more useful to us firefighters . . . 1) we know if there may be pets inside and how many and 2) we know if there is a very large Rottweiler, German shepherd or boa constrictor that we should go in prepared. Of course I am kidding.

True story though . . . a number of years ago I was doing search and rescue in a trailer. Place was full of smoke. Couldn't see 6 inches in front of us. Came across a body. Started poking it and prodding it to get a good hold of the person to move them out . . . only to discover in short order that it was in fact a dog 6 inches away from my face mask . . . and not only a dog . . . it was a large Rottweiler . . . the good news . . . he didn't rip off my face . . . the bad news . . . we pulled him out and he was still alive, but due to the burns and smoke inhalation he was euthanized.

 

[firefighterjake]

I remember well my first week of attempting to burn overnight. I would wake up every 2 hours to make sure I wasn't dead and the house was on fire and then throw some more wood in the stove. Woke up around 4 a.m. alive . . . but drenched in sweat.

And then I remember the first few fires that I would start and then leave for work . . . wondering if I wouldn't be getting a phone call later that day from a fellow firefighter in my hometown telling me that he had a spare bedroom for me and the wife to use for a few months.

While it's true that folks should be concerned with the fact that there is a fire in a box in their living room . . . I think we are just a little more aware of the potential danger since a) we hear of so many stories of folks who install any old stove in any old chimney without paying attention to clearances, floor protection, how much creosote is building in their chimney, etc. and then they end up as the lead news story and b) every time you burn you're confronted with the potential danger as there is a large fire in your living room.

The truth however is that we all have had fire in our home . . . whether it be the controlled fire from an oil furnace or propane boiler . . . or the small flickering candle . . . heck, one might even make a case that all that electrical wiring in your home is just like a fire in that it is controlled energy . . . energy that we can use . . . and energy that has the potential to be dangerous in some conditions.

The most important thing to remember is that you really need to install your stove to the manufacturer's specs (and not just do something or cut corners because you can or because your dad or best friend did it that way, learn how to run the stove (i.e using seasoned wood, getting the temps hot enough to avoid creosote production but cool enough to not overfire) and know how to properly dispose of the ash . . . you need to respect the woodstove and realize it is not like running on oil boiler . . . but if you treat it with respect and develop good habits you can safely go to sleep at night and leave the home and not have to be the focus of everyone in town as they get together for a benefit dinner after you've burned down the house.

If you're the forgetful, absent-minded type who doesn't pay attention to details, leaving the home or going to sleep at night with the stove running might not be a good idea. But if you develop good habits and get in the habit of checking and rechecking your stove you can burn safely. Me, I'm not like my very logical wife . . . for this reason I have developed habits that are now . . . well . . . habits. I use visual clues to remind me . . . for example I always turn on the TV when I am reloading in the morning before heading to work and it's typically on before I turn in for the night. Before I leave for work or go to sleep I turn off the TV . . . and do my final check of the stove . . . it's now ingrained and part of my daily habit.

 

[MishMouse]

I am still a little concerned when I leave the house in the morning about what might happen.

But, then when I think about it, the propane that burns in the furnace and that could potentially lead to a far more dangerous situation then the wood stove could cause one little leak and phhhhhttt BOOM and then you were gone

 

[tfdchief]

I have burned wood for almost 40 years. I have been in the fire service for 31. So, I have seen what can go wrong. I still check, re-check and worry. Three days ago TFD was called to an address I recognized as one that burns wood.....dispatched for smoke in the house. I radioed the responding units that the address burns wood, and to suspect that as the cause of the smoke. Turned out, the wood stove was cranking away quite OK but an electrical short had started a fire in the attic.

 

[SteveKG]

Heck, worse than a compressor is filling a portable air bottle from the compressor. You are standing right there next to everything.

 

[buffygirl]

We started burning wood in the 70's --we've had a chimney fire and a fire in the stove pipe - neither of which I want to have again. I know this thing was installed by professionals who have a good reputation and it's safer than anything we've ever operated. BUT when I have it only open less than 1/4 and the temp gauge has red-lined and still climbing, I start to get nervous. Our last stove had a much smaller window-so I didn't see everything that was going on. When I shut it up, it shut down. Still have lots to learn. Many more burn patterns to try. Keep up the encouragement.

Buffygirl
New Jotul Oslo burner

 

[billb3]

I don't go far or long.

I don't like natural gas more.
Great to cook on.
See too many houses blow up around here. (in the news) Mostly seems in the Winter.

 

[schortie]

Last year was our first year burning. It took us a bit to get used to going to sleep, and then a bit longer to leave the house. Even when we did leave the house, I would call our number from work. I figured if the answering machine came on, the house was still standing. It turns out my wife was doing the same thing. This year I haven't really thought about it all that much.

 

[gibson]

++ to Be Green. I knew for mine and my wife's sanity, that a first class installation, with liner and inspection would do. Smoke and CO2 detectors in the stove room, smokes in the downstairs and up stairs halls. CO2 in the kids rooms. Then the fire extinguishers, two downstairs, one up, along with a rescue ladder upstairs. My 9 yr old put together the evac plan and the meeting place.

I feel very safe with my preparation and my burning setup.
Cheers.

HehHeh . . . CO2 detectors, huh? Good for detecting fizzy soda?

Sorry, just busting on ya . . . I know you meant CO detectors.

And for the record I agree with you 100% . . . safe install, inspection and getting the safety equipment and then coming up with a plan. Kudos to your kid . . . and to you as parents for listening to his/her advice.

So you can see why I had the 9 yr old do the evacuation plan. They get more fire safety education from you guys in the fire department, than most adults, to your credit. I am not afraid to admit that I can learn a lot from my kids. I pray to God that they are smarter than me! Somehow, we will all get through this crazy life! Seriously, I have much respect for the time our local firefighters spend with the school kids. I think they enjoy it too.

 

[tfdchief]

++ to Be Green. I knew for mine and my wife's sanity, that a first class installation, with liner and inspection would do. Smoke and CO2 detectors in the stove room, smokes in the downstairs and up stairs halls. CO2 in the kids rooms. Then the fire extinguishers, two downstairs, one up, along with a rescue ladder upstairs. My 9 yr old put together the evac plan and the meeting place.

I feel very safe with my preparation and my burning setup.
Cheers.

HehHeh . . . CO2 detectors, huh? Good for detecting fizzy soda?

Sorry, just busting on ya . . . I know you meant CO detectors.

And for the record I agree with you 100% . . . safe install, inspection and getting the safety equipment and then coming up with a plan. Kudos to your kid . . . and to you as parents for listening to his/her advice.

So you can see why I had the 9 yr old do the evacuation plan. They get more fire safety education from you guys in the fire department, than most adults, to your credit. I am not afraid to admit that I can learn a lot from my kids. I pray to God that they are smarter than me! Somehow, we will all get through this crazy life! Seriously, I have much respect for the time our local firefighters spend with the school kids. I think they enjoy it too.

Don't feel bad Sen. John Blutarsky. Our dispatcher occasionally dispatches us to a CO2 alarm going off!

 

[Battenkiller]

I think about the wiring in the walls

It sat there dormant for 13 years...


About five years ago, I was going down to the basement to fill the stove. As I was getting ready to go back upstairs, the lights started to flash on and off amid a great racket of thumps and shakes of the entire house. Then suddenly, it stopped. After my heart began to beat again, I noticed that one of my boys must have used the basement bathroom and left the light on. I reached in to shut it off, but flipping the switch had no effect. That's when I noticed a 12" plume of flame shooting out of the open ceiling. That was the light I thought saw.

I stood there like an idiot just staring, trying to take it in. My wife started yelling, asking what was wrong. I yelled back, asking for her to come down. She came down and looked in the bathroom. I knew it was electrical in origin. I had heard the same types of sounds when the HVAC guys working on the refrigeration compressors would throw the huge switches back on in the supermarket I worked in as a kid. But I couldn't figure out what could have caused it. My wife said, "Don't just stand there, put it out." "With what?", I asked. "With the g**damn fire extinguisher."

Weird... I had forgotten I even had one in all the confusion.

So I gave it a quick blast and the fire went out. I checked the breaker box, and sure enough, a breaker had been tripped. I decided I would check it out several times over the rest of the evening and get in there with a light before I went to bed. But then I did the right thing and called the fire dept.

About 20 guys were there in minutes. They went over and over everything and found nothing burning, but there was a pungent smell in the room. We all thought it was the face cord of semi-seasoned red oak I had stacked against the wall. Then one of them grabbed me and said, "Quick... where's your propane tanks?" I led him around to the back of the house and he closed the valve immediately.
Right after the fire extinguisher was discharged, I went over to the overhead air filtration unit in the shop to filter out the powder that had filled the air. I guess it was so loud that I never noticed the hissing sound..... the sound of propane leaking right into the same room that the wood stove was in.

Apparently, when I switched from an electric to a propane range, the installer had drilled directly through the sill and into an electric wire that was running along the floor joist. For 13 years it sat there in close proximity to the copper tubing that ran from the outside tank up to the kitchen range. Something, a mouse perhaps, or just settling of the house over the years caused these two items to finally contact each other. The arc blew a hole in the copper tubing, and ignited the propane before blowing the circuit breaker. When I put the fire out, the propane kept leaking into the room, unheard by me because of the sound of the filter fan. If I had just gone upstairs and not called the FD, the basement would have continued to fill with propane fumes until they got concentrated enough to get ignited by the burning stove... and I wouldn't be here writing this post. And had I gotten around to finishing the basement bathroom ceiling, I would never have noticed the plume of flame and we would have burned in our sleep.... and I wouldn't be here writing this post.

Three things to remember:

1. Always call the FD if you have any kind of fire.

2. Sometimes, it's not paranoia. Things are really trying to kill you.

3. Laziness can sometimes be a virtue in disguise.

 

[quads]

Oh my god! The people around me always laugh at me and tell me I need a shrink because I worry too much about everything. Your experience is proof that I am not always worrying about nothing. Now I have my LP gas lines to add to my list. :-S

I think about the wiring in the walls

It sat there dormant for 13 years...


About five years ago, I was going down to the basement to fill the stove. As I was getting ready to go back upstairs, the lights started to flash on and off amid a great racket of thumps and shakes of the entire house. Then suddenly, it stopped. After my heart began to beat again, I noticed that one of my boys must have used the basement bathroom and left the light on. I reached in to shut it off, but flipping the switch had no effect. That's when I noticed a 12" plume of flame shooting out of the open ceiling. That was the light I thought saw.

I stood there like an idiot just staring, trying to take it in. My wife started yelling, asking what was wrong. I yelled back, asking for her to come down. She came down and looked in the bathroom. I knew it was electrical in origin. I had heard the same types of sounds when the HVAC guys working on the refrigeration compressors would throw the huge switches back on in the supermarket I worked in as a kid. But I couldn't figure out what could have caused it. My wife said, "Don't just stand there, put it out." "With what?", I asked. "With the g**damn fire extinguisher."

Weird... I had forgotten I even had one in all the confusion.

So I gave it a quick blast and the fire went out. I checked the breaker box, and sure enough, a breaker had been tripped. I decided I would check it out several times over the rest of the evening and get in there with a light before I went to bed. But then I did the right thing and called the fire dept.

About 20 guys were there in minutes. They went over and over everything and found nothing burning, but there was a pungent smell in the room. We all thought it was the face cord of semi-seasoned red oak I had stacked against the wall. Then one of them grabbed me and said, "Quick... where's your propane tanks?" I led him around to the back of the house and he closed the valve immediately.
Right after the fire extinguisher was discharged, I went over to the overhead air filtration unit in the shop to filter out the powder that had filled the air. I guess it was so loud that I never noticed the hissing sound..... the sound of propane leaking right into the same room that the wood stove was in.

Apparently, when I switched from an electric to a propane range, the installer had drilled directly through the sill and into an electric wire that was running along the floor joist. For 13 years it sat there in close proximity to the copper tubing that ran from the outside tank up to the kitchen range. Something, a mouse perhaps, or just settling of the house over the years caused these two items to finally contact each other. The arc blew a hole in the copper tubing, and ignited the propane before blowing the circuit breaker. When I put the fire out, the propane kept leaking into the room, unheard by me because of the sound of the filter fan. If I had just gone upstairs and not called the FD, the basement would have continued to fill with propane fumes until they got concentrated enough to get ignited by the burning stove... and I wouldn't be here writing this post. And had I gotten around to finishing the basement bathroom ceiling, I would never have noticed the plume of flame and we would have burned in our sleep.... and I wouldn't be here writing this post.

Three things to remember:

1. Always call the FD if you have any kind of fire.

2. Sometimes, it's not paranoia. Things are really trying to kill you.

3. Laziness can sometimes be a virtue in disguise.

 

[PapaDave]

Oh,
I'm not afraid to leave the house, just afraid of what might happen once I do! Heck, I worry about being IN the house sometimes with this monster. :ahhh:
I've pretty much gotten over most of that, except for the possibility that I might just forget to close and latch the stove door.
I've actually turned the car around to check. We have a few dogs in the house, and live out a ways. Might be a while before anyone noticed my house going up in flames.
I don't like the idea of the dogs being stuck in a burning house. Note to self, "don't rush out of the house".

 

[buffygirl]

Oh,
I'm not afraid to leave the house, just afraid of what might happen once I do! Heck, I worry about being IN the house sometimes with this monster. :ahhh:
I've pretty much gotten over most of that, except for the possibility that I might just forget to close and latch the stove door.
I've actually turned the car around to check. We have a few dogs in the house, and live out a ways. Might be a while before anyone noticed my house going up in flames.
I don't like the idea of the dogs being stuck in a burning house. Note to self, "don't rush out of the house".

Been there done that -- how many times have you left home and turned to your spouse and said "Did you shut the stove up"--no I thought you did -- no you did --I don't know -- so you turn around and go back home and it has always been shut up -- just do it automatically.

 

[tfdchief]

Oh,
I'm not afraid to leave the house, just afraid of what might happen once I do! Heck, I worry about being IN the house sometimes with this monster. :ahhh:
I've pretty much gotten over most of that, except for the possibility that I might just forget to close and latch the stove door.
I've actually turned the car around to check. We have a few dogs in the house, and live out a ways. Might be a while before anyone noticed my house going up in flames.
I don't like the idea of the dogs being stuck in a burning house. Note to self, "don't rush out of the house".

PapaDave, I fear the same things and do not accept that my dogs can't get out if there is a fire and I am gone. I installed a "dog door" so they can! They aren't that expensive and not hard to put in. I have carried too many dead dogs from houses where we put the fire out and the dogs would have survived if they could have just gotten out on their own.

 

[Battenkiller]

Oh my god! The people around me always laugh at me and tell me I need a shrink because I worry too much about everything. Your experience is proof that I am not always worrying about nothing. Now I have my LP gas lines to add to my list. :-S

Better go check on them right now. :ahhh: :lol:

 

[Battenkiller]

Another "Murphy's Law" type occurrence...

About twenty years ago when my kids were small, we got them each a rabbit for Easter. While they were playing with them, one disappeared. We looked high and low, tried to attend to the fears of the worried children while we prayed that our Golden Retriever hadn't added it to the list of non-dog food items he had already consumed while we weren't looking.

I went into my shop where I had seen it near the door earlier. I was greeted with the foul smell of acetylene. The damn little thing had gone in and in no time had chewed a hole in the acetylene line for my mini-torch. Thankfully, I have good habits with that setup, so both the oxygen and the acetylene had been turned off at the tank. Only the gas in the line leaked out. But it might have been an interesting thing to watch if I'd hadn't shut the valve and the gas built up.

The good thing about these gases is that they stink enough to give you a fair warning... if you happen to be there (and awake) at the time.

I, too, worry about my dog when I am away. But I ever come back and find half a dozen fire trucks hosing down a pile of burning sticks...

My wife's yakity bird will not be missed.

 

[gzecc]

Battenkiller, That is a great story! As a contractor I am always thinking about drilling into walls. One never knows completely.

 

[struggle]

Having a Mansfield put my mind at rest while leaving the house.

My only concern is over-firing it so I wait until the wood is well charred and turn it back and have an oscillating fan on a table about four feet away to blow some heat off the top of the stove in case it pushes over 500 degrees. It has proven to work well as our stove can hit 600 with a lot of small pieces in it.

I try to use larger pieces to fill the stove when leaving the house so the fire does not rage so bad.

 

[PapaDave]

Oh,
I'm not afraid to leave the house, just afraid of what might happen once I do! Heck, I worry about being IN the house sometimes with this monster. :ahhh:
I've pretty much gotten over most of that, except for the possibility that I might just forget to close and latch the stove door.
I've actually turned the car around to check. We have a few dogs in the house, and live out a ways. Might be a while before anyone noticed my house going up in flames.
I don't like the idea of the dogs being stuck in a burning house. Note to self, "don't rush out of the house".

Been there done that -- how many times have you left home and turned to your spouse and said "Did you shut the stove up"--no I thought you did -- no you did --I don't know -- so you turn around and go back home and it has always been shut up -- just do it automatically.

Well, since I'm pretty much the sole operator of the stove, the conversation starts more like "Dave, why are you turning around?".
It's always been shut, but with my sometimers disease, I still wonder.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Who of you are affraid to leave the house / sleep when the stove is kicking? I changed stoves from a steel Century to a Hearthstone Mansfield. Took about a week for me to feel 100% in control and comfortable leaving the house once she is crusing. No I load her up, get her going and I am off to work. Can't wait to get home to a toasty home!

I have insurance and hold my possessions in a certain amount of contempt, so I've never worried about it.

 

[jeff_t]

Who else keeps a fire extinguisher in their bedroom?

 

[firefighterjake]

Who else keeps a fire extinguisher in their bedroom?

HehHeh . . . my mind is wandering off to places unrelated to woodstoves and the dangers of fire . . . must resist temptation . . . must resist temptation . . . but temptation too great.

Aw, what the heck . . . I only wish I needed a fire extinguisher in the bedroom . . . but I've been married now for 13 years and counting!

 

[firefighterjake]

++ to Be Green. I knew for mine and my wife's sanity, that a first class installation, with liner and inspection would do. Smoke and CO2 detectors in the stove room, smokes in the downstairs and up stairs halls. CO2 in the kids rooms. Then the fire extinguishers, two downstairs, one up, along with a rescue ladder upstairs. My 9 yr old put together the evac plan and the meeting place.

I feel very safe with my preparation and my burning setup.
Cheers.

HehHeh . . . CO2 detectors, huh? Good for detecting fizzy soda?

Sorry, just busting on ya . . . I know you meant CO detectors.

And for the record I agree with you 100% . . . safe install, inspection and getting the safety equipment and then coming up with a plan. Kudos to your kid . . . and to you as parents for listening to his/her advice.

So you can see why I had the 9 yr old do the evacuation plan. They get more fire safety education from you guys in the fire department, than most adults, to your credit. I am not afraid to admit that I can learn a lot from my kids. I pray to God that they are smarter than me! Somehow, we will all get through this crazy life! Seriously, I have much respect for the time our local firefighters spend with the school kids. I think they enjoy it too.

You're not kidding about them being smarter than us in some ways . . . I was teaching fire safety today to a 4th grade class and saw they were doing complex multiplication . . . something I didn't do in school until I was in the 5th or 6th grade . . . and they were doing it in their heads even!

 

[firefighterjake]

I think about the wiring in the walls

It sat there dormant for 13 years...


About five years ago, I was going down to the basement to fill the stove. As I was getting ready to go back upstairs, the lights started to flash on and off amid a great racket of thumps and shakes of the entire house. Then suddenly, it stopped. After my heart began to beat again, I noticed that one of my boys must have used the basement bathroom and left the light on. I reached in to shut it off, but flipping the switch had no effect. That's when I noticed a 12" plume of flame shooting out of the open ceiling. That was the light I thought saw.

I stood there like an idiot just staring, trying to take it in. My wife started yelling, asking what was wrong. I yelled back, asking for her to come down. She came down and looked in the bathroom. I knew it was electrical in origin. I had heard the same types of sounds when the HVAC guys working on the refrigeration compressors would throw the huge switches back on in the supermarket I worked in as a kid. But I couldn't figure out what could have caused it. My wife said, "Don't just stand there, put it out." "With what?", I asked. "With the g**damn fire extinguisher."

Weird... I had forgotten I even had one in all the confusion.

So I gave it a quick blast and the fire went out. I checked the breaker box, and sure enough, a breaker had been tripped. I decided I would check it out several times over the rest of the evening and get in there with a light before I went to bed. But then I did the right thing and called the fire dept.

About 20 guys were there in minutes. They went over and over everything and found nothing burning, but there was a pungent smell in the room. We all thought it was the face cord of semi-seasoned red oak I had stacked against the wall. Then one of them grabbed me and said, "Quick... where's your propane tanks?" I led him around to the back of the house and he closed the valve immediately.
Right after the fire extinguisher was discharged, I went over to the overhead air filtration unit in the shop to filter out the powder that had filled the air. I guess it was so loud that I never noticed the hissing sound..... the sound of propane leaking right into the same room that the wood stove was in.

Apparently, when I switched from an electric to a propane range, the installer had drilled directly through the sill and into an electric wire that was running along the floor joist. For 13 years it sat there in close proximity to the copper tubing that ran from the outside tank up to the kitchen range. Something, a mouse perhaps, or just settling of the house over the years caused these two items to finally contact each other. The arc blew a hole in the copper tubing, and ignited the propane before blowing the circuit breaker. When I put the fire out, the propane kept leaking into the room, unheard by me because of the sound of the filter fan. If I had just gone upstairs and not called the FD, the basement would have continued to fill with propane fumes until they got concentrated enough to get ignited by the burning stove... and I wouldn't be here writing this post. And had I gotten around to finishing the basement bathroom ceiling, I would never have noticed the plume of flame and we would have burned in our sleep.... and I wouldn't be here writing this post.

Three things to remember:

1. Always call the FD if you have any kind of fire.

2. Sometimes, it's not paranoia. Things are really trying to kill you.

3. Laziness can sometimes be a virtue in disguise.

There is only one word for this . . . WOW!

Well, that and HOLY CRAPOLA!

And, YOU ARE ONE LUCKY GUY.