What do you keep on hand to stop a Chimney Fire?

[Jbird560]

The cabin we are building is 25 miles from town and two miles up a 4 wheel drive road behind a
locked gate. Pretty easy to see that if the house catches fire the VFD is not going to save it.
So I have to be my own first line of defense. Keeping your flue clean is a given but what if
you have a chimney fire anyway? What do you keep on hand to quickly extinguish the fire?
Are there reliable products or extinguishers that you recommend?
Thanks,
Jbird

 

[BrotherBart]

I have a supply of Chimfex flue fire extinguishers I bought for forum members at cost instead of paying thirty bucks retail. If you want one or two send me a PM. When I get around to it I am giving the remaining ones to the local fire stations.

http://www.chimfex.com/

 

[rottiman]

Railway strike flares, same as you see @ accident scenes, strike to ignite ,throw inside the stove, shut down all the air source. The sulfur in the fuse smothers the fire.

 

[savageactor7]

I installed an inline damper and most always keep a half bucket of ashes to throw on a run away fire.

 

[Fsappo]

Chimfex flares work great according to many first hand account from my FD buddies. Good job given to the local boys, BB.

 

[remkel]

Dry wood, chimney brushes, mirror (for inspection), phone number for a professional sweep should all the former things fail.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

I would also recommend having at least a couple of the Chimfex extinguishers on hand. Throw one in the stove and then shut all dampers and air controls, call the fire department and watch your roof for burning chunks of creosote. Never spray the chimney itself with a hose. After a chimney fire, have a professional chimney sweep inspect it throughly for damage before lighting another fire.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We have almost always lived far from the Fire house and simply never worried about it. We also have heated with wood for many, many moons and have never kept anything handy in case of a chimney fire.....and we've never had a chimney fire.

Remember: poor fuel = poor results, and that is how most chimney fires get their start. Simply put, our insurance against chimney fires is to burn good fuel. That means we do not cut in one year and then burn it. We always try to keep extra wood on hand that so we never have to burn green wood or even marginal wood.

 

[henkmeuzelaar]

I installed an inline damper and most always keep a half bucket of ashes to throw on a run away fire.

In 33 years of operating 4 different wood-burning fireplaces (one with a BK Princess insert) we have only had 1 chimney fire that my wife (I was not home) battled successfully with one of the CO2 generating cartridges (forgot the brand). This was 25 years ago, in an open (no doors or damper) fireplace with brick-and mortar chimney. And, yes, we only had ourselves to blame for burning wet wood and not having the chimney swept each and every year.

Now we do have zero-clearance Majestic fireplaces with built-in dampers and metal flues/chimney liners. This brings up my question: should closing an in-line damper in principle be enough to stop a chimney fire??

From my wife's account of a scary, roaring inferno, I can imagine that closing the damper may sound easier than it could actually be. Unless one has an externally accessible damper handle or pull chain, it may be unwise to get close enough to try and stick a hook in there to swing, pull or push the damper shut?!

So, just to make sure, we do keep a CO2 generator cartridge under the sofa.

What do the experts say??

Henk

 

[4 cords]

Someone I work with has one a year on average, he said he called the vfd and when they arrived 5 minutes later they came in , looked at the stove , asked for a glass of water, by this point his wife was like just put the fire out dont just stand around drinking water. The firefighter bends over - opens the stove door - thows the water in and shuts the door -fire out He tells me the story and I think that may not be good for the stove ? Well sure enough this year mid season he has the annual chimney fire- the wife says should we call the vfd again ? no he replies just get me a glass of water ! He tells me the story and I just say you need to clean the chimney 2 times a year , and buy wood now for next year or you will be homeless one of these years!

 

[henkmeuzelaar]

Someone I work with has one a year on average, he said he called the vfd and when they arrived 5 minutes later they came in , looked at the stove , asked for a glass of water, by this point his wife was like just put the fire out dont just stand around drinking water. The firefighter bends over - opens the stove door - thows the water in and shuts the door -fire out He tells me the story and I think that may not be good for the stove ? Well sure enough this year mid season he has the annual chimney fire- the wife says should we call the vfd again ? no he replies just get me a glass of water ! He tells me the story and I just say you need to clean the chimney 2 times a year , and buy wood now for next year or you will be homeless one of these years!

Love that story; beats Saturday Night Live right now!

As far as wood stove chimney fires go, I hope FirefighterJake will tune in. The price of bottled water sure beats that of CO2 generating cartridges!

Can't see it working on most traditional fireplace chimney fires, though. Once the chimney is roaring, I'm pretty sure you could extinguish every piece of burning wood below and it shouldn't make much of a difference since the flames would still be fed by the creosote deposits....

Henk

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I have a supply of Chimfex flue fire extinguishers I bought for forum members at cost instead of paying thirty bucks retail. If you want one or two send me a PM. When I get around to it I am giving the remaining ones to the local fire stations.

http://www.chimfex.com/

Save a couple of those for me por favor.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

I have wondered about those myself.....heard conflicting opinions....think will get a couple two tree of them for next season. It sure could not hurt to have them around..

 

[pen]

I keep a chimfex around (thank BB) but that is the last line of defense.

The first tool for keeping from dialing 911 and having to re-read the directions on the chimfex is the chimney brush.

pen

 

[glassmanjpf]

Railway strike flares, same as you see @ accident scenes, strike to ignite ,throw inside the stove, shut down all the air source. The sulfur in the fuse smothers the fire.

Thanks for the solution...I too have access to those. I'm assuming no damage to the stove but would still need to have chimmney inspected afterwoods.

 

[chrisman34]

I am on a fire department and we just use a dry chem (ABC)extinguisher Works 90% of the time....the other 10%..... the house is on fire! Just open up stove, and flue...give a short burst close both........wait a couple seconds, and repeat. But call the FD just in case!

 

[henkmeuzelaar]

Railway strike flares, same as you see @ accident scenes, strike to ignite ,throw inside the stove, shut down all the air source. The sulfur in the fuse smothers the fire.

Thanks for the solution...I too have access to those. I'm assuming no damage to the stove but would still need to have chimmney inspected afterwoods.

Although it is of course less likely that stoves with properly working catalytic afterburners will experience chimney fires it can't hurt to keep remembering that sulfur in any form could irreversibly poison the catalyst.

Henk

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have a supply of Chimfex flue fire extinguishers I bought for forum members at cost instead of paying thirty bucks retail. If you want one or two send me a PM. When I get around to it I am giving the remaining ones to the local fire stations.

http://www.chimfex.com/

Save a couple of those for me por favor.

And now Kathleen is a Spaniard!

 

[BrotherBart]

Save a couple of those for me por favor.

No es un problema Señorita.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Im wondering where a chimney fire gets all the needed oxygen. If you have a relatively tight system most if not all of the oxygen would be consumed in the stove leaving very little to facilitate a roaring fire in the chimney. Especially if you shut down the air all the way.

 

[gdk84]

Im wondering where a chimney fire gets all the needed oxygen. If you have a relatively tight system most if not all of the oxygen would be consumed in the stove leaving very little to facilitate a roaring fire in the chimney. Especially if you shut down the air all the way.

Im guessing for masonery chimneys one would be the clean out door that doesnt close right or partially open that leakes air. Make sure that sucker is sealed shut.

 

[BrotherBart]

Good luck during a chimney fire trying to find those unrestricted "EPA holes" and the secondary air inlet for a EPA stove. Best thing is just burn dry wood hot and clean the pipe regularly. No fuel in the pipe, no chimney fire.

 

[tfdchief]

Im wondering where a chimney fire gets all the needed oxygen. If you have a relatively tight system most if not all of the oxygen would be consumed in the stove leaving very little to facilitate a roaring fire in the chimney. Especially if you shut down the air all the way.

Of course you want to shut off all air that you can, but a chimney fire is sometimes so intense that it will get its air! As BB has said, it is nearly impossible to shut off all the air.

 

[Shmudda]

I am on a fire department and we just use a dry chem (ABC)extinguisher Works 90% of the time....the other 10%..... the house is on fire! Just open up stove, and flue...give a short burst close both........wait a couple seconds, and repeat. But call the FD just in case!

This is exactly what I have on hand too....and it does work good as I have used it in the past. I also keep a 5 gallon bucket of sand handy to throw on the fire if need be, that snuffs it out quickly.

Craig

 

[colebrookman]

All great suggestions. Also proper stove operation is really important. Fill your stove with wood, turn down the air and leave it smolder while you go to work creates a creosote factory. Do it regularly and, if your lucky, you will only have a chimney fire. If it's not your day you will burn your house down. As BB and others have said, dry wood, clean chimneys and of course, proper operation are equally important for safe burning. Be safe.
Ed