I finally got the story

[wg_bent]

For those of you who remember last year I mentioned that my parents neighbor's house had a very serious fire. At the time I got that it was a chimney fire...that's all.

A few days ago I talked to them and got the straight story. I stopped by to thank them for all the wood they were bestowing upon me... about 1.5 cords of mostly seasoned maple, some cedar and apple. So I asked them what happened.

The chimney had a crack in the original masonry flue tiles and over the many years cresote had built up from fireplace fires and the chimney had never been cleaned. The creosote had lit off and that monster fire got out into the attic space.

So the sad part of this is that now that they have completely rebuilt the chimney to current code and have ensured that it's safe...they don't want to use the fireplace. I wonder if they'll even use the Pellet stove they have in the basement.

The lesson here is: Clean your chimney!

 

[velvetfoot]

Most fires around here, on a subjective basis from listening to TV news, are started by unattended candles! What's the mechanism with that, anyway?

 

[brian_in_idaho]

Most fires around here, on a subjective basis from listening to TV news, are started by unattended candles! What's the mechanism with that, anyway?

Stupid people, I would think. We had one like that around here, a mother left her baby in a carrier or something on the table, a candle lit some dried flowers on fire, end result was a house fire and dead baby. Tragic end.

 

[wg_bent]

I'll have to admit a candle came very close to burning my house down...I learned that lesson

The candle was one of those earthy candles where they bore a big hole in the middle of a birch log, insert a copper sleeve, then put a candle in the center. The candle was sitting on the kitchen stove (you'd think that would be save eh?). The range hood had a decorative oak cover on it. Well, the candle burned all the way down and the bottom of the birch log was not protected by the copper and the log itself caught on fire. Birch log + candle wax = pretty impressive flame. The cabinets had just gotten a bit of black soot on them easily wiped off, but when I walked into the room flames were almost touching the wood cabinets. I picked up the whole thing and tossed it in the sink and poured water on it. VERY Scary!!

We no longer purchase any candles that are contained in a combustible container. Also, almost never burn them anymore.

 

[heydan]

Here's a safe way to burn candles:

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/heydan/files/2006/07/stoveafter.jpg