Had a chimney fire this morning

[BC_Josh]

Scary. Just lit a fire from a cold start, went outside to see how much smoke was billowing out of the chimney, because I'm trying to lessen that for the neighbourhood. ....
Then I saw a lot of grey/brownish smoke and embers burning on the cap of the chimney! So, I went inside and doused the fire with water (put it in my mouth and blew the water on the embers), turned the thermostat to the lowest setting. Then some neighbours rang my doorbell to say they saw the chimney cap was red and a bit of flame coming out of the top of it.

I feel like a total idiot. And, I'm feeling shock as I write this! I've lived in my home for 23 years and wasn't being careful enough. Although I did hot fires for an hour a day or so, I should've had the chimney inspected after a couple months of use.

Sheesh.... not even sure that I want wood heat anymore. :-(

I'm assuming it was the cap that burned, because I didn't, nor did my neighbours see any embers flying out of the chimney.

Or maybe this is just initiation into being a wood burner? Gack!

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Wow, glad to hear all is ok. Is there any one (or 2 ) things that you can identify that would have caused rapid buildup in the chimney system?

 

[BC_Josh]

Wow, glad to hear all is ok. Is there any one (or 2 ) things that you can identify that would have caused rapid buildup in the chimney system?

Thanks. I'm not really sure. I did email the chimney inspector though, requesting an inspection.

There was the warm, above freezing temperatures for all winter until last week, then way below freezing (-4 F at night, 5 F daytimes). A cold snap. Also last night, built a fire and forgot to close the bypass right away, it burned hot with the bypass open for probably twenty min's, and there was a weird smell afterwards, I assumed it was the bypass gasket but maybe there was also a small chimney fire last night, too.

Well, my chimney is stainless steel, double walled. So, I am just hoping and praying it's not damaged.

 

[BC_Josh]

BTW, the chimney is new, installed this year, and I've only been burning for a few months..... I started burning larch during the cold snap, too, and unlike the fir I was burning all season before, it has thick bark on it.

 

[BC_Josh]

The friendly postman just came by and he is an experienced woodburner (and used to be a volunteer fire fighter too). I told him what happened and his guess is that the chimney, being double walled stainless steel all the way, will have very warm/hot smoke all the way up until the top, then it will cool on the section above the roof, build up creosote. He didn't think there should be a huge problem that developed. He said he cleans his cap twice a year, that it can get really gummed up, with hardened creosote.

 

[begreen]

BK stoves run cooler flue temps. Is the chimney/flue system straight up through the house or mostly exterior? Is there a probe flue thermometer installed to track flue temps?

 

[BC_Josh]

BK stoves run cooler flue temps. Is the chimney/flue system straight up through the house or mostly exterior? Is there a probe flue thermometer installed to track flue temps?

The chimney goes almost straight up (one 45 degree bend inside the attic), and it's entirely inside the house except, of course for the last section out the roof (which has the cap on top). I have no flue thermometer, only a catalytic thermometer.

 

[bholler]

The friendly postman just came by and he is an experienced woodburner (and used to be a volunteer fire fighter too). I told him what happened and his guess is that the chimney, being double walled stainless steel all the way, will have very warm/hot smoke all the way up until the top, then it will cool on the section above the roof, build up creosote. He didn't think there should be a huge problem that developed. He said he cleans his cap twice a year, that it can get really gummed up, with hardened creosote.

Yes you typically get more buildup on the cap. But the fire had to get up there somehow. It almost always burns up through the chimney. That being said the chimney is most likely absolutely fine. They are tested to withstand a few fires. You should still have it checked out but I doubt there will be an issue

 

[BC_Josh]

Yes you typically get more buildup on the cap. But the fire had to get up there somehow. It almost always burns up through the chimney. That being said the chimney is most likely absolutely fine. They are tested to withstand a few fires. You should still have it checked out but I doubt there will be an issue

I put a lot of newspaper balls and a lot of cedar kindling to burn a very hot little fire to add more pieces onto, to get it going this morning from a cold start. Perhaps half burned little pieces of newspaper spit up through the chimney and caught some creosote on fire? Or, maybe the flames went up into the chimney, past the bypass door, and lit some creosote on fire up in there?

I emailed a chimney sweep this morning as soon as I could. Hopefully, they can come soon. Thank you very much for your responses, everyone.

 

[BC_Josh]

Luckily, a chimney sweeper/stove installer came on short notice, yesterday. He cleaned out the chimney from the inside (roof is steep pitch, metal roof with snow on it). He told me that he air intake vent for the furnace in the basement was likely causing a negative pressure situation with my stove since it's sucking air out of the room. This vent is right next to my stove on the floor and I've been keeping the furnace fan running 24/7. I've been leaving a furnace fan on so that the heat is distributed throughout the basement. He also said I was leaving my stove down too low, and recommended to have the thermostat at a place where there is always a little bit of flame, so the flames are not growing or shrinking, a fine balance, that this is the best place to put the thermostat. I was doing a lot of low burning with that fan on and the negative pressure issue (I also noticed that often times it took a lot to warm it up enough for smoke to go up the chimney from a cold fire, and even with it warmed up sometimes smoke would curl around in the firebox.

So, I turned the fan off in the basement, we lit a small fire, after cleaning my chimney and stove out, and I noticed a lot more flame happening and not the smoke in the firebox. He said that once a fire got established, I could probably turn on the basement fan again to get the heat distributed down there, but not to have the fan on while I'm not around and to make sure to monitor the smoke coming out of the chimney to make sure it's not belching out a lot of smoke. We went outside and took a look at the smoke coming out of the chimney, and I have to say that it was a lot better than before the clean-out and the furnace fan sucking air down right next to the stove. The smoke was white (which would be condensation) and it disappeared ten feet away from the chimney, not the brown and grey stuff that I'd been experiencing that made me cough when chopping wood outside.

I'm thinking of installing a fresh air kit, then I wouldn't have to worry as much about the basement fan/negative pressure situation. I like the idea of them regardless of the other variables, anyway.

Next chore is also apologizing to the neighbours for all the bad smoke recently and let them know the situation seems to be resolved. Live and learn!

 

[Todd]

Instead of the furnace fan place a small box fan on the floor opposite side the stove is on and blow the cooler air towards the stove. It should create a nice convection loop.

 

[kborndale]

I don't think this has been asked yet, what is the moisture content of your wood?

 

[BC_Josh]

I don't think this has been asked yet, what is the moisture content of your wood?

Thanks for asking.... I've checked pieces from different locations of my woodpiles, split them before carefully reading according to my meter's instructions, and all of them are 14% moisture on my woodpile and after they sit inside next to the fire for a day or so, they go down to 13%. I have only fir and larch. This should indicate fully seasoned wood. My supplier is very good.

 

[BC_Josh]

Instead of the furnace fan place a small box fan on the floor opposite side the stove is on and blow the cooler air towards the stove. It should create a nice convection loop.

I have a ceiling fan, sucking air upwards that is six feet away from the chimney pipe coming out of the stove. The furnace fan is used to suck air downwards into the basement and redistribute it down there, to heat the basement. Not sure I'd need a floor fan?

 

[BC_Josh]

Anyway, I've noticed that the stove, without the furnace fan really gets fires going quickly, and the flames are roaring! This didn't use to happen before, when the fan was creating negative pressure issues. The problem is, now I have to use my old gas furnace to heat the basement and the thermostat is on the wall close enough to the stove that it only kicks on when the stove goes really low. Defeats the whole purpose of heating the whole house with this wood stove. Solution? Fresh air kit, I would think.... woosh woosh!

Until I do that, I'll have to put in a oil-filled heater into the basement as a temporary solution. For now, I'm just running the furnace at nights. Our cold snap is almost over. Today is -8C (17F). Supposed to get to around just at freezing later this week. Usually, where I live, temperatures hover just below freezing. Soooo... anyway, yeah. Hmmm.... LOL