Hickory Fireworks Excitement

[wendell]

Had put a load of hickory in at lunch today and got home late tonight and went to push the coals forward to burn them down before the overnight load. I always get a lot sparking with hickory but tonight was an amazing display with sparks shooting out like crazy. I quickly shut the door and made sure I got all of the burning material off of me and a few seconds later, started smelling smoke. Checked myself again to make sure my clothes weren't burning but the smell was quickly getting stronger.

I turned around and the wastebasket behind me (4 feet from the stove and completely blocked by my body), which had the paper towels that I had used to clean my glass a couple days ago, had started burning! Made a quick dash outside, dumped the paper towels out and started stomping. I definitely won't be putting the wastebasket there again!!

 

[rdust]

Close one!

I had a hickory coal pop and get my carpet a month or so ago. I could smell it, I was looking all around the stove and didn't see anything, looked behind me about 4' and a hole about the size of a dime was smoldering away. Carpet could use replacing so I'm not too upset about it.

 

[Battenkiller]

Whew! Close call, eh?

I've been burning almost straight hickory for the past several days. I have a top loader and sometimes it gets looking like Vesuvius coming out the top of the stove. I keep my kindling about 4-5 feet away. I always watch it after I close the lid and come back to check it a bit later. After reading that escapade, I think I'll go back down and check it one more time before going to bed.

Hickory is King AFAIC. Like white ash on steroids.

 

[wood spliter]

I put wood in and was mixing it up. I guess some was not to dry so the popping came. I thought I had all the ambers but could still smell something. There was nothing on the floor than I realized it was my shorts burning.

 

[northwinds]

Hickory is sneaky. I have a couple of holes in the carpet to show from last year's hickory in the stove. This year, I
bought a cheap hearth rug to lay in front of the stove. I haven't burned hardly any hickory this year, and no damage to
the hearth rug or carpet around it.

 

[wendell]

I guess I'm burning it for you! ;-) Thanks, buddy!!

 

[Dakotas Dad]

When our house was built they had to drop about a dozen large hickory trees to get our driveway in, that was all we burned the first two years in our regular fire place.. carpet developed a few bits of "character" before we got a hearth rug. The stove install is going to get rid of most of them.. but some are 60" out from the fireplace.. only new carpet will fix them..lol

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Glad you got ahead of that one Wendell. Just think if someone would have done that and was in a hurry, closed the door and went to another area of the house or outside. That could have been total disaster!

 

[wendell]

Boy, howdy! I was thinking that or if it wouldn't have started quite so quickly and I had already gone to bed. That is the wastebasket where I also put all of the bark and other stuff that falls off the wood so it would've had plenty to burn. Never would've dreamed a spark could travel that far, especially since to get there, it had to ricochet off the wall but as others have mentioned, you can't be too careful.

 

[tiber]

All this hickory and not a steak to be seen. What a waste!

 

[ROBERT F]

All this hickory and not a steak to be seen. What a waste!

+1. think I'm gonna fire up the 'Q and cok up some rib eyes. its a balmy 35 for a high, perfect to cook in! headed to the butcher, back in a few!

 

[Gark]

Haven't been lucky enough to burn hickory, but mulberry can sure lie in wait like that.
Burning nice, quiet and red in a coal log until you open the door for reload. It sends
sparks into the room that explode once they get out of the stove. 4th of July display.