Hot ashes & coals after 24 hours?

[itsanaddiction]

So, last night I had too many ashes and coals in the firebox of my insert, could hardly fit a full load of wood in there. At 11:00 pm I shoveled a bunch out into a metal bowl I borrowed out of my charcoal smoker. Yea, I need to get a metal bucket I know. Anyhow, I set it out on the concrete patio. It was snowing last night, we got around 8 inches here. I woke up this morning, went to work, came home, and after dinner decided to put the ashes, which had sat out in the snow all night, into a bag and put it in the garbage. That's when I noticed it burned right through the bag! I can't believe I had red hot coals in the ashes almost 24 hours after putting them outside, in the snow no less. The temps were in the mid teens last night, and never got over 26 degrees today. Lesson learned...

 

[HotCoals]

Just goes to show what an insulator ash is to coals.
Next time just open the air ..stir the coals or put them near the intake and let them burn down.
It really does not take that long if you leave everything full bore.

 

[DALE SR 3]

THat is how our idiot neighbor tried to the explain how he burned up our property to the DNR Fire Dept.. He only lost about 10 feet of grass.

Our neighbor at our cabin thought his ashes and embers were cold after he took them out of his outside wood burner. The next evening he threw them out into what he thought was a pile of dirt but was actually leaves. The next thing he hears my dad ... yelling to call the fire dept since the woods was on fire and had advanced to within about 100 yds from our cabin.

Luckily the DNR fire dept is only .25 miles down the road and they responded very quickly and we might lose several acres of trees and did lose some valuable trees my mom planted in memory of my Grandparents when the fire dept drove over them to get to fire. Our cabin was safe though.
I DO NOT BLAME FIRE DEPT. there were not too many ways to get into area quickly without damaging trees and with a vehicle capable of taking out a tree such as 6x6 tanker or armored Hummer. WE DO BLAME THE NEIGHBOR THOUGH.

Embers stay warm for a long time when covered by ash. We always dump water on our ashes and embers at the property after we dump them out and stir to soak everything.
At home we use ash bucket and when that is full we dump that into a garbage can. By the time they are used it will be thrown out it & may be weeks. They are helpful in keeping the smell down in garbage bags during the summer months, 1-2 coffee cans per bag.

Luckily not high winds but fast moving nevertheless with the little wind there was:
1434: view from our drive to neighbors and burnt woods between
1453: It came very close to our cabin, if it had hit the pines and then field lining drive up to cabin... New cabin, new wood stove
1436: looking towards our drive and pines, Hummer tracks that drove into the fire zone
1441: Are these Ironwood trees eventual casualties of fire? Many trees are black at base.

 

[shawneyboy]

The property owner prior to me had an outdoor fire going, thought it was out, it wasn't. Embers in the pile lit up a small brush fire and that hit the wooded area. No one was hurt no real property damage other than some scarred up trees. This happened more than 10 years ago and I am still finding blackened tree trunks on some standing deadwood. Embers can be dangerous. Thank goodness no one was hurt in either situation from Itsanaddiction and Dale Sr. Lesson learned with minimal damage.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Yep, that's right! I keep one of those big galvanized cans with a lid on it and dump my ash in there. I can go weeks without having to dump that can. I always wait til it's raining or there is snow on the ground, or as a last resort, I dump 'em in my outdoor fire pit.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

So, last night I had too many ashes and coals in the firebox of my insert, could hardly fit a full load of wood in there. At 11:00 pm I shoveled a bunch out into a metal bowl I borrowed out of my charcoal smoker. Yea, I need to get a metal bucket I know. Anyhow, I set it out on the concrete patio. It was snowing last night, we got around 8 inches here. I woke up this morning, went to work, came home, and after dinner decided to put the ashes, which had sat out in the snow all night, into a bag and put it in the garbage. That's when I noticed it burned right through the bag! I can't believe I had red hot coals in the ashes almost 24 hours after putting them outside, in the snow no less. The temps were in the mid teens last night, and never got over 26 degrees today. Lesson learned...

Thankfully this did not go bad for you but as you've seen, it can go bad and go bad rather fast! There have been other examples where folks sit a bag or plastic can on a deck and leave their ashes there; end result is burning the house down. Best to keep them in a metal can. And as you have learned, those hot coals can last a long, long time.

So how do you go about getting rid of these coals so you don't have to dump them out? First, realize that wood not dry enough will give you many more coals than dry wood will. Nevertheless, you can burn them down. We keep watch of our fire and just before it has gone to the all coal stage, we set the draft fully open to burn down the coals and do this on every reload. Else, as you found, soon there is not enough room for new wood.

Another trick for burning down the coals is to add a split or even some kindling to the coals and open that draft full. You may not get 600 degree stove top while doing this but you will get heat and that is much better than throwing out coals. With the cost of wood it is a shame to turn around and throw it out and that is what you do when you shovel out the coals. Use as much of that heat as you can.

Good luck.

 

[jharkin]

Once burned down you can spread the ashes on your garden (good free fertilizer) or in the woods. Wont have the risk of melting a trash bag that way... and less going to the landfill to boot.

 

[jeff_t]

I use two seventeen gallon metal trash cans with tight lids. By the time the second one is full the first one is safe to dump. The full one usually sits for about four weeks.

 

[Bobbin]

I think it was last year that I (finally) bought an ash can on legs with a snug fitting lid on it (it's the one adverstised on the Woodstock website) and a large, galvinized trash bucket with a snug fitting lid. Before that I was shovelling ash into a single galvinized bucket and transferring them to a variety of recepticles after they were completely "dead". Talk about penny-wise and pound foolish!

I should have "split the leather" for the ash can on legs years before! Ashes are part of burning wood and they are potentially very dangerous, but they're also a very useful resource for anyone interested in gardening. The galvinized trash can that sits on a bed of crushed stone is the best thing going. We no longer have a row of buckets awaiting spring for disposal. All the ashes are in one (safe!) container and we empty it at our convenience (and the lawn's delight) over the course of the summer.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I use two seventeen gallon metal trash cans with tight lids. By the time the second one is full the first one is safe to dump. The full one usually sits for about four weeks.

Oh I LIKE the rotating ash can method, great idea!

 

[KYrob]

1441:

Are these Ironwood trees eventual casualties of fire? Many trees are black at base.

I am no expert but I think the trees will be fine. I have burned off areas of my farm and the bases of trees look like that and they are doing well. It usually takes a really hot, slow moving fire to kill a tree especially when it wasn't totally engulfed.

Glad you didn't lose your cabin.

Rob

 

[itsanaddiction]

First, realize that wood not dry enough will give you many more coals than dry wood will.

I'm still in rookie wood burner status, beginning my second year burning. Loving every minute of it, but I continue to learn new lessons about how to do or not things. I noticed this year I'm getting a lot more build up of coals in the fire box than I've had. In 2008 I bought a couple cords of nice, seasoned red oak and scrounged the rest for 2009's wood. This season I'm burning white oak I c/s/s in feb/march of 2009. My HF moisture meter reads 17% to 20% on a freshly split piece. Am I getting a lot of coals because its not seasoned well enough?

You guys have some scary stories, I would have never imagined glowing coals remaining after sitting out in a snow storm for almost 24 hours with temps in the teens. Looks like I learned the easy way, some learn the hard way. Lets all be glad nobody lost property, or worse.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[firefighterjake]

And again I will state what I have said many times before . . . I have seen far more fires caused by the improper disposal of ashes from a woodstove than almost any other fire caused by a woodstove (other than perhaps chimney fires) . . . in both cases it comes down to a lack of properly maintaining the heating system from start to finish.

Best solution for ash . . . treat it as if there is a hot coal hidden somewhere there . . . dispose into a covered metal pail outside on a non-combustible surface . . . wait several days to weeks before disposing.

The pics posted by Dale reminded me of a fire started by hot coals several years back . . . missed Thanksgiving Day dinner on that day because of the home owner dumping the ashes/coals in a pile of dead grass next to a hay field.

Dale . . . check the trees in the Spring . . . there is a chance they may just be scorched and may come back . . . I would suggest not cutting any of them down right now unless there is some serious charring.