Possible chimney fire

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ohiojoe13

Feeling the Heat
Dec 22, 2014
390
alliance ohio
Hello I have a blazeking ashford 30.1. I had a little bit of a scare yesterday. I started a fire trying the top down start. All seemed well then about 5 minutes after I started the fire the house filled with smoke. I went outside and I didn't see any smoke coming from the chimney. But it was very windy outside. It smelled like the paint was burning from the chimney but couldn't really tell where the smoke was coming from. There really wasn't a roaring fire in the stove. I remember reading on here to open the door all the way if you thought you had a chimney fire. So I did that then took all the wood out of the stove. The stove never really warmed up so I took a section of the double wall pipe down to look things over and everything seemed ok. How do I know if I had a chimney fire. I cleaned the chimney at the beginning of the season and im burning soft maple and cherry that has has been split and stacked for over 18 months. When I looked things over the chimney almost looked too clean for burning 24/7 for the past 4 months. Ill post a picture to see what you guys think. The picture is of the 2 offset 45s where they meet the ceiling box.
Edit. I Never heard the roaring sound that I have read about with chimney fires. This all happened so fast if there was a fire it only lasted a few minutes.
 

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You sure the chimney isn't plugged by some critter? Seems like it was based on your description, no smoke out of the chimney and smoke backdrafting into the house.

Craig
 
That was my first thought. But when I took the section of pipe down. I could see all the way to the top and it was clear. After I checked everything out I started another fire but not using the top down method and everything was fine.
 
I don't know what exactly happened there, but is hard to tell if it was a chimney fire. I don't share the idea of opening the door. I think is better shut down everything and more with a BK. You have the thermostat that can be closed and stop high volume of air going through. That's the reason that barometric damper apparently is not recommended with solid fuel/wood stove cause it keeps air going into the flue when chimney fire making things worse, but well, that's another story. The good thing is that everything looks good, just keep your eyes on it. Be sure your draft/thermostat and bypass are open when starting the fire.
 
I had a few weeks back a similar situation but in my case I was able to hear the roaring sound of the fire around a couple of feet of the flue, making the flue probe climb to 900 in seconds. I was also doing a top down fire. I wondered if a piece of something got sucked through the bypass.

I closed the bypass and shut the thermostat completely and the box went dark instantly. A minute later everything was under control and I did continue with the normal cycle. I start to wonder if the top down method with the BK is not a good idea.
 
Not being there it's hard too say for sure but it sounds like maybe your cold chimney hadn't established a good draft and the wind briefly reversed it.
 
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Reactions: lsucet
lsucet said:
I don't share the idea of opening the door. I think is better shut down everything
Click to expand...
yes you are absolutely correct opening the door works well for an out of control stove but is absolutely the wrong thing to do in the case of a chimney fire.

lsucet said:
That's the reason that barometric damper apparently is not recommended with solid fuel/wood stove cause it keeps air going into the flue when chimney fire making things worse,
Click to expand...
That and the dilution air introduced by that baro will also conribute to creosote buildup making more fuel for a potential fire.
 
ohiojoe13 said:
That's a possibility too. But It smelled chemically.
Click to expand...
I will say the pic of your pipe does not look like a typical chimney fire but it could be if there was not much fuel for it. Regardless just check everything over good it will probably be just fine it does not sound like it was a bad fire if at all and class a chimneys should be able to stand up to it occasionally especially minor ones like you may have had.
 
With a BK I think that's the best thing to do, and that can apply to any other stove brand or technology I guess.
 
Now, remember we are talking about a possible chimney fire. But it is uncertain what actually happened there. Based on, you didn't have a roaring fire going and the stove is a BK, we can assume that the point of the issue was not a fire out of control. The recommendation to shut everything down still a good idea regardless.
 
ohiojoe13 said:
Thanks everyone.
So if this ever happens again the best thing to do would be to close the bypass and turn the air down ?
Click to expand...

I have the same thing happen when the dryer is on with a cold stove if I do not open the back door a little. Its just a reverse draft. I use a small torch to light my fires now to help heat the flue up a bit and get the fire going faster.
 
bholler said:
yes you are absolutely correct opening the door works well for an out of control stove but is absolutely the wrong thing to do in the case of a chimney fire.
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We should probably make this more clear whenever the subject of opening the door for an out of control fire comes up again. I'd hate for someone to open the door to a chimney fire due to a misunderstanding.
Rickb said:
I have the same thing happen when the dryer is on with a cold stove if I do not open the back door a little. Its just a reverse draft. I use a small torch to light my fires now to help heat the flue up a bit and get the fire going faster.
Click to expand...
Is it too late for you to install an outside air kit for it?
 
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Sprinter said:
We should probably make this more clear whenever the subject of opening the door for an out of control fire comes up again. I'd hate for someone to open the door to a chimney fire due to a misunderstanding.
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Yes I try to remember to say it but it is a very important point.
 
What was the outside temperature? We were 75 F in NJ.
 
ohiojoe13 said:
That's a possibility too. But It smelled chemically.
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Was it rainy? Do you have a chimney cap? Wet creosote can smell chemically, especially with a down draft. FWIW, this does not sound like a chimney fire to me, but more likely a reverse draft situation. Have you seen this before when it was windy? If the chimney is not properly placed with the roofline, surrounding terrain, etc, wind can cause a downdraft, but so can other factors.
 
As for the top-down method, one of the main advantages of that is that it tends to warm the flue more quickly, thus establishing a healthy draft quicker. I would experiment with that a bit and see if that may indeed be a factor. If the downdraft is strong enough, that may not be enough to correct the draft.

I have had a few incidents where there is a very strong downdraft early mornings when the outside temps are very low. I think those were due to an atmospheric layer. But it was obvious when opening the stove door that cold air was rushing down, so I just waited it out. The sun coming up has always been enough to stop it. Using a propane torch might help as suggested above when that happens.
 
I don't see any sign of a chimney fire in that picture. Whenever I deal with cleaning up after a chimney fire there is always expanded creosote around and part or parts of the chimney will be filthy with creosote. What's pictured looks quite clean to me. If you see no deformation in the interior of your pipe and it's clean like that to the top you should be good to go. Based on the instal is to code in the first place.

I suspect as others have said that draft stalled and then reversed on the top down fire attempt. I light top down all the time with no issue.
 
It would seem to me that the first clue was that there was smoke into the house. That's not any indication of a chimney fire that I know of. A chimney fire will take every thing upwards, usually with a roar depending on how much creosote fuel is being burned. Also, if the flue was just cleaned and the fuel dry and properly burned as claimed, I'm betting that the flue was pretty darn clean when this happened, so no flue fire.

Just a suggestion, but always feel for a cold draft coming from the flue whenever you open the door to refuel. If it's moderate, you may try the propane torch (never worked for me though), or just wait it out. It will probably be temporary. If conditions seem normal, I wouldn't hesitate to use the top-down method. I think it was just a coincidence, but any time I feel any down draft at all, just wait a while.

Do you (OP) have a thermometer on the stovepipe (magnetic if single wall or probe if double)? That will tell the tale for sure regarding chimney fires. They're very useful in normal use, too..
 
Last edited:
Sprinter said:
Was it rainy? Do you have a chimney cap? Wet creosote can smell chemically, especially with a down draft. FWIW, this does not sound like a chimney fire to me, but more likely a reverse draft situation. Have you seen this before when it was windy? If the chimney is not properly placed with the roofline, surrounding terrain, etc, wind can cause a downdraft, but so can other factors.
Click to expand...
It was not raining. I do have a chimney cap. I don't think I have ever tried to start a fire when it has been windy. I usually only have to start a fire a few times a year.
 
Squisher said:
I don't see any sign of a chimney fire in that picture. Whenever I deal with cleaning up after a chimney fire there is always expanded creosote around and part or parts of the chimney will be filthy with creosote. What's pictured looks quite clean to me. If you see no deformation in the interior of your pipe and it's clean like that to the top you should be good to go. Based on the instal is to code in the first place.

I suspect as others have said that draft stalled and then reversed on the top down fire attempt. I light top down all the time with no issue.
Click to expand...
Everything looked normal when I looked it over. There seems to be some build up on the top foot or so of the chimney. Not alot but some.
 
Sprinter said:
It would seem to me that the first clue was that there was smoke into the house. That's not any indication of a chimney fire that I know of. A chimney fire will take every thing upwards, usually with a roar depending on how much creosote fuel is being burned. Also, if the flue was just cleaned and the fuel dry and properly burned as claimed, I'm betting that the flue was pretty darn clean when this happened, so no flue fire.

Just a suggestion, but always feel for a cold draft coming from the flue whenever you open the door to refuel. If it's moderate, you may try the propane torch (never worked for me though), or just wait it out. It will probably be temporary. If conditions seem normal, I wouldn't hesitate to use the top-down method. I think it was just a coincidence, but any time I feel any down draft at all, just wait a while.

Do you (OP) have a thermometer on the stovepipe (magnetic if single wall or probe if double)? That will tell the tale for sure regarding chimney fires. They're very useful in normal use, too..
Click to expand...
It didn't sell like wood smoke. It was like the chemical smell like Paint burning or something. I dont have a thermometer. I just didn't like the idea of putting a hole in the chimney. I probably should have one.
 
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