House Fire,Wood stove possible cause

[John C.]

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Fire-Sends-Two-To-The-Hospital-188583271.html

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Just had a mennonites house burn here cuz of a wood stove.WIth these temps the stoves are being pushed harder so any weakness in the installation will show up now.

 

[grathan]

I wonder how it's possible that a pellet stove could burn a house down. I look at my stove suspiciously, but don't see the weak spots.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I wonder how it's possible that a pellet stove could burn a house down. I look at my stove suspiciously, but don't see the weak spots.

You aren't looking hard enough.


This article seems to be a wood stove related matter.

But to put a couple of things out there:

1: If you have the stove vent too close to the ground and leaves blow under the vent they can and have caught fire and that just travels right up the exterior of the building.

2: Another good one is having a joint in a thimble, someone hits the vent causing a gap to open which allows hot exhaust gases into the wall.

3: Prolonged poor burns builds up creosote in the flue inside the house near the stove end of the vent and the next good startup fire torches it off, resulting in fire going up the wall (and other places) inside the house.

4: Poor cleaning leads to burn pot build up, followed by drop chute backup, followed by burn back, in a frenzy of panic home owner opens the hopper and whoosh what was smoke is now a fire.

5: Disrespect for possible still burning coals in the ash one scoops out of the stove (things like placing such materials in an empty pizza box and sitting said box on the back deck).

 

[ChandlerR]

Great post Smokey! I have experienced two of your causes. You might remember a couple of years ago. I had the creosote that had accumulated at the termination cap, catch fire. No damage, but it opened my eyes to a danger I didn't know existed. Another incident involved a miss-connected pipe connection in the through wall thimble caused a smoke smell in the house. Found that one immediately but, again, it was a lesson. Like they say, any time you bring fire into your house, you need to respect it and what it can do.

You aren't looking hard enough.


This article seems to be a wood stove related matter.

But to put a couple of things out there:

1: If you have the stove vent too close to the ground and leaves blow under the vent they can and have caught fire and that just travels right up the exterior of the building.

2: Another good one is having a joint in a thimble, someone hits the vent causing a gap to open which allows hot exhaust gases into the wall.

3: Prolonged poor burns builds up creosote in the flue inside the house near the stove end of the vent and the next good startup fire torches it off, resulting in fire going up the wall (and other places) inside the house.

4: Poor cleaning leads to burn pot build up, followed by drop chute backup, followed by burn back, in a frenzy of panic home owner opens the hopper and whoosh what was smoke is now a fire.

5: Disrespect for possible still burning coals in the ash one scoops out of the stove (things like placing such materials in an empty pizza box and sitting said box on the back deck).

 

[jtakeman]

Less than 30 miles from me. Saw it on the news before I headed of to work.

Hope everyone is OK.