In case of a chimney fire I am going to kick my ass because it will be my own dumb fault.
Chimney Fire
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LOL.........I just figured out you were talking to me.
I just took that down, I have a nice cabinet now.
Nick Mystic
Minister of Fire
As someone mentioned earlier one of the main dangers today from a chimney fire is what the hot embers spewing out the chimney are going to do as the rain down on your roof. When you stop to consider that we burn our stoves in the autumn and winter right at the time that many homes have dry leaves resting in their roof valleys and gutters one can quickly imagine what can happen. This is another good reason to make a habit of keeping such tinder off our roofs. A friend of mine had $160,000 fire damage to his house when his son came to visit and flicked his burning cigarette down on the driveway instead of putting it out. The cigarette ended up rolling across the drive and stopped when it met the garage wall. Apparently, it smoldered there for a time unseen and later that night caught the garage and house on fire! I can easily imagine this type of debris catching a house on fire from hot embers coming out a chimney.
I have excel chimney pipe and ultrablack stovepipe from ICC and I just don't worry about chimney fires. With that pipe, if I have one, my house is safe. But I don't expect to ever have one. Burn only wood, don't overfire, don't smoulder, and make sure my pipe is clean. And rest easy.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Burn seasoned wood.
Inspect regularly. Clean when needed.
Burn at the proper temps -- not too cold (makes creosote), not too hot (can ignite creosote.)
Do those three things and chances are you will never have to deal with a chimney fire.
But to answer questions . . .
How do you know if you have a chimney fire? You may hear a sound like Rice Krispies falling down your stove pipe . . . or a train or jet rumbling in your chimney. You might also have your neighbor pounding on your front door to tell you that it looks like Mt. Vesuvius is erupting with all the smoke and sparks or even flames coming out of the top of your chimney.
What is the best way to put out a chimney fire? Pat answer: Call 911 and get out. Realistic answer: An ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher fired off inside the chimney or stove may work . . . some folks advocate tossing in a damp newspaper to retard the fire and allow the conversion of steam to rise on the natural draft and extinguish the fire . . . some folks keep some sand or ash on hand to toss into the firebox to kill the fire . . . and some folks have a magnet or balled up aluminum foil that they can cover up the incoming air to kill the fire. Best bet though . . . do the aforementioned three things and not worry about a chimney fire.
Inspect regularly. Clean when needed.
Burn at the proper temps -- not too cold (makes creosote), not too hot (can ignite creosote.)
Do those three things and chances are you will never have to deal with a chimney fire.
But to answer questions . . .
How do you know if you have a chimney fire? You may hear a sound like Rice Krispies falling down your stove pipe . . . or a train or jet rumbling in your chimney. You might also have your neighbor pounding on your front door to tell you that it looks like Mt. Vesuvius is erupting with all the smoke and sparks or even flames coming out of the top of your chimney.
What is the best way to put out a chimney fire? Pat answer: Call 911 and get out. Realistic answer: An ABC dry chemical fire extinguisher fired off inside the chimney or stove may work . . . some folks advocate tossing in a damp newspaper to retard the fire and allow the conversion of steam to rise on the natural draft and extinguish the fire . . . some folks keep some sand or ash on hand to toss into the firebox to kill the fire . . . and some folks have a magnet or balled up aluminum foil that they can cover up the incoming air to kill the fire. Best bet though . . . do the aforementioned three things and not worry about a chimney fire.
eclecticcottage
Minister of Fire
Someone we met via a friend lost their home to a chimney fire. I don't know what type of pipe they had. They had just replaced the old pipe because it smelled like creosote (they cut and burn that year, no CSS, older stove). All anyone can figure is that one of the screws wasn't put in properly. He came in from the barn to find the place on fire, it started in their office in the second floor.
They didn't change their burning style, they just rebuilt and put in a "new" round oak and kept going. I'd say they are in their 80's and aren't about to change now. He even sells firewood.
They didn't change their burning style, they just rebuilt and put in a "new" round oak and kept going. I'd say they are in their 80's and aren't about to change now. He even sells firewood.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Its funny I talked to my insurance man about my wood burner in my shop the other day and he seemed to fully understand with the right install and correct burning practices you will not have a problem.
Your clearances to combustibles are with normal operation in mind not a chimney fire, so your chimney might survive (damaged possibly) but it could start a fire in the house, no way is a chimney fire safe.
Chance are if you are aware of chimney fires (like you are) you will never have one.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
True story: The original Chimfex factory burned down.
Every time I hear this I just picture all the employees feverishly lighting up the Chimfexs and tossing them into the factory.
Swedishchef
Minister of Fire
It seems, from a quick videos I saw (and I could be mistaken..) is that a chimfex is a road flare......perhaps it just sucks the oxygen from the stoves and smolders the fire??
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
Compared to when? As an old time volunteer, I can tell you that during my career, both the frequency and severity of chimney fires decreased steadily (at least where I was). But that was likely due to several factors such as:
1. Better materials like class A chimneys and liners as you suggest.
2. More strict installation codes which, if followed, sharply decrease the chance for extensions fires.
3. Better burning practices by the homeowners. Good dry wood, efficient stoves and better awareness.
If a flue fire occurs (and they do), extensions can occur in one of two ways:
1. Overheating adjacent combustibles
2. Roof fires from embers escaping.
The first one is minimized by proper installation and materials. Codes for installations are pretty conservative and are written for severe situations. We never saw an extension in a proper installation that I can remember.
Roof fires can be minimized by having a screen on the cap and the use of fire resistant roofing. The worst chimney fire incident I ever had was due to embers igniting a cedar shake roof. (They still scare me when I see them but also because of wild fire problems). The problem with cap screens is that they can get clogged up with light creosote, so you have to keep an eye on them.
These comments are based only on my own experience and others may have a different take on things.
Oh, and remember, a clean chimney does not burn!
I definitely have some first hand experience with a fire.No word of a lie ,we bought our house last august and in late September I lit the stove for the first time.Within 15 minutes I had a fire in the flue.I was relatively new to burning wood.The first thing that happened was the smoke alarm went off,then I heard the sparking sound in the flue,then there was a lot of smoke in the house.I basically grabbed a pail of water and opened the door and dumped her in there.After that I went out on the upper deck of the house to see the chimney and I saw bits of smoldering crud around the cap.I kept tossing water at the cap from below.I got on it quick but I don't think it would have done much ,there were never any flames.The flue pipe is the good black stuff and I have a Selkirk metalbestos chimney.So a few days later I had a sweep come and look and he said "yep definitely a chimney fire but you burned any creosote up that was there." We figured that the people in the house before had never swept it at all in the 3 years they had it ,and they were the original owners.Also they had a crappy pile of wood there that they left,so I bet they had no idea what they were doing. So I had a chimney fire the first time I ever lit my own stove in my life ,and if you are wondering I didn't crack the stove with the water,it wasn't even hot yet. Another thought I had was that there may have been a squirrels nest or birds nest in there and that's what caught on fire.
Swedishchef
Minister of Fire
Not fun dealing with other owners poor wood burning habit. I would have done the same thing; light the stove for a try. I would have certainly swept it before winter but would likely have had one small fire before. Dd you get the house inspected when you bought it?
Andrew
Andrew
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
tomahawk
Member
I've had 3 in my life. 2 were at my Dads place. The first one I was 16 and it was due to an unclean chimney, my Dad took the blame on that one cause he knew it was dirty and needed cleaning. Second was on the same chimney but it had developed a small hole in the back of it in the attic so not entirely my fault but good lesson to check things out before burning. 3rd was on my unit, and entirely my fault. I have two 90s on the pipe and right in between them, where it exits the house is where it started. I knew the chimney needed cleaning and thought it could go a little longer - WRONG. (should have learned from Dad) Now I clean it about every 2 months during the burning season just to make sure. Some may say it's overkill but when I think about how lucky I have been to not have any damage to my house or family then it just makes sense to me.
The ABC fire extinguisher worked great - put out the heat from below then I just locked it down and let it die out.
And it does sound like a jet engine roaring through the house. It's a scary sound because you just know that someplace, somewhere, something bad is happening with your house.
The ABC fire extinguisher worked great - put out the heat from below then I just locked it down and let it die out.
And it does sound like a jet engine roaring through the house. It's a scary sound because you just know that someplace, somewhere, something bad is happening with your house.
yeah I had a guy inspect the house but he didn't say much about the chimney.He said you should get it swept before winter,but he said he never took it apart.The house was only 3 years old and if you look at the fireplace and chimney setup it looks quite professional.So I think he was just telling me to sweep it because he needs to cover his bases.But I mean who would have guessed I would have a fire the first time I lit the thing.The previous people could have had the fire at any time.Im not even sure they had burned any in the last year or two because what they had there was very very grey and it was even under a deck as well.What wasn't under the deck was rotten rounds.The people were the kind of people who didn't know how to burn is what my neighbor was telling me ,he said they didn't belong in the neighborhood so to speak.Its the kind of place where we drive quads on the road and dirtbikes too.
We've seen folks that have plugged up their chimney in a month of burning. Unseasoned wood and a smoldering fire will do that pretty quickly.
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
I'll admit that in the 70's I had little awareness of proper burning. Creosote was just something that always happened as a normal part of wood burning to most people. I can remember frequently slapping the single wall pipe from my old Earth Stove with both hands to loosen the flaky creosote while it tinkled into the stove. I have no idea what the upper part of the chimney looked like. I know I smouldered the fires too much and used wood that was not ready.
But that was then and this is now...
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
Well, they came in different sizes. Mine was medium size for a 1500 sf house. They seemed to be the most popular brand name at the time. They looked nice, but they were pre-epa of course, and windows weren't an option then. They had a manual air intake valve that could be turned off all the way which made it too easy to smoulder a fire.
But really, even those pre-epa stoves could be safely operated. They weren't inherently unsafe or anything. Then as now, safe burning was up to the operator.
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