House fire today

[firefighterjake]

Thinking back this year and in past years . . . quite honestly I can only remember one near miss involving a pellet stove that was due to a manufacturer defect . . . all other fires with woodstoves (can't think of any with pellet stoves) have been as Marty S. mentioned . . . operator error . . . failure to clean a chimney, failure to install the stove to manufacturer specs, failure to dispose of ashes correctly, etc.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I have had one chimney fire years ago.

The cause was the usual suspect "Creosote" buildup.

The chimney would have done fine without any attention as it was a heavy brick structure with a 1/4" wall stainless liner that was put in as the chimney was built.

I was home at the time the sucker took off. Sounded like a jet taking off for sure.

Letting it burn out would have been fine, except the neighbors were all ready to call the fire dept.

A went in and squirted a fire bottle (Dry powder) up into the stove.

There was little fire in the stove. Had set off a bunch of paper left over from Christmas and it caught the stack on fire due to the instense amount of flames going up the stack.

After the burn and the discharge of the fire bottle, the crap all fell back into the stove.

Cleaned out the stove and all good to go.


The 1/4 inch stainless liner was a tad bit of overkill but it will tollerate just about anything you could throw at it.

Chimney fires with pellet stoves although not impossible are very very rare due to tha fact that the wood fuel is cured well and the stoves burn very efficient.


Snowy

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

"Chimney fires with pellet stoves although not impossible are very very rare due to tha fact that the wood fuel is cured well and the stoves burn very efficient."

That is normally the case, except when they are being burned with mis adjusted dampers that provide too little air (or in very dirty stoves, which is but one equivalent possibility).

 

[Martin Strand III]

I have had one chimney fire years ago.

The cause was the usual suspect "Creosote" buildup.

The chimney would have done fine without any attention as it was a heavy brick structure with a 1/4" wall stainless liner (SNIP)

Snowy

As I said previously, "Sadly and statistically, most fire control “problems” are the result of operator error; neglect,..."

Operator error caused your chimney fire (you weren't the cause of the creosote buildup?) as a well maintained chimney will not have creosote buildup; if formed, creosote will be removed by routine cleaning and , if you burn hot, your chimney will not collect creosote.

If you burn wood, your chimney requires routine inspection and/or maintenance. All chimneys from wood burning stoves require attention. None do fine without any attention. You are a case in point, sir.

Aye,
Marty

 

[mikepinto65]

Thinking back this year and in past years . . . quite honestly I can only remember one near miss involving a pellet stove that was due to a manufacturer defect . . . all other fires with woodstoves (can't think of any with pellet stoves) have been as Marty S. mentioned . . . operator error . . . failure to clean a chimney, failure to install the stove to manufacturer specs, failure to dispose of ashes correctly, etc.

I went to four (maybe five) this year involving pellet stoves. All of them involved the auger clogging up and fire spreading to the hopper. Thankfully, all that resulted was a house full of smoke, as we were able to get to it in time before it really got going, and a few wasted bags of pellets. Each one of these was simply due to the owner not knowing how to properly clean the unit and not removing the ash nearly enough.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Exactly

The 1/4" thick stainless liner was installed so that a chimney fire was really no issue.

Used to run the stove 24/7 and had to use whatever wood was available.

Usually I would do a controlled cleanout burn of the chimney but that time was not planned.

The liner was suspended every 3 feet inside the tile lined flue so there was no contact to the brick that would cause issues.

Had the neighbors not been having such a fit I would simply have let the burn out progress with the damper shut way down and within a very short time the issue would have been finished.

I built that house and had the chimney contructed such that although a chimney fire is always possible that it was a moot point and would never cause much issue other than make the neighbors nervous

The stainless liner was 8" inside diameter and 1/4" thick wall. Way overkill but very safe too.

This build was done to take care of the ever possible fire. When you have no choice but to burn wet/uncured wood you take precautions in other ways.

The house has been sold 3 times since I moved out and all the owners have set that chimney on fire and just let it burn out.

It would have to burn for a very very long time to ever get the flue hot enough to be a worry.

There is 2 inches of air space around the liner too, all the way up.

Yessssssss A pellet stove that is not kept clean and run with poor airflow could certainly see deposits form in the pipe.

I am still suspect that the issue that was originally spoken of was a hopper fire that resulted from either a failed exhaust fan or a failed safety device.

Snowy