Just had a chimney fire with my BK King!

[Skidooer]

So about 10pm tonight I was loading the king up with some nice 2 year dried hardwood as usual. As it was taking its time coming into active I noticed my pipes starting to snap and crackle like crazy. Shot the pipe at the ceiling with my temp gun and it was sky high, went on the roof and watched the “ring of fire” climb up inside my chimney. I gave it a bast with the fire ext as I noticed it stalled out just before the attic level. All is out now, I unloaded the stove and shut it down to have a look tmrw or Sunday. Scared the crap out of the wife who was sleeping!
So anyway, some questions for you guys.
I just put a brand new Cat from BK in this 3 weeks ago, and it seems to work great, but I have been lighting a lot of fires as it’s not that cold to continuous run. Would cardboard and paper from all the restarts build up in the chimney? I’ve never seen my chimney this dirty after a full season, let alone 3 weeks!
Thanks

 

[lsucet]

What was the temp of the flue?

 

[bholler]

So about 10pm tonight I was loading the king up with some nice 2 year dried hardwood as usual. As it was taking its time coming into active I noticed my pipes starting to snap and crackle like crazy. Shot the pipe at the ceiling with my temp gun and it was sky high, went on the roof and watched the “ring of fire” climb up inside my chimney. I gave it a bast with the fire ext as I noticed it stalled out just before the attic level. All is out now, I unloaded the stove and shut it down to have a look tmrw or Sunday. Scared the crap out of the wife who was sleeping!
So anyway, some questions for you guys.
I just put a brand new Cat from BK in this 3 weeks ago, and it seems to work great, but I have been lighting a lot of fires as it’s not that cold to continuous run. Would cardboard and paper from all the restarts build up in the chimney? I’ve never seen my chimney this dirty after a full season, let alone 3 weeks!
Thanks

It is probably fine just check everything out well. Chances are everything is fine. And no cardboard and paper dont build anything up in the chimney.

 

[Highbeam]

So I have to ask, was the loading door latched shut?

 

[bholler]

So I have to ask, was the loading door latched shut?

Why does that matter? Just curious.

 

[lsucet]

It is probably fine just check everything out well. Chances are everything is fine. And no cardboard and paper dont build anything up in the chimney.

Remember sometimes paper can be sucked and ignite the creosote cause that happened to me. But shouldn't create build up.

 

[bholler]

Remember sometimes paper can be sucked and ignite the creosote cause that happened to me. But shouldn't create build up.

Yes absolutly

 

[wooduser]

. I gave it a bast with the fire ext as I noticed it stalled out just before the attic level.

So was the fire extinguisher effective in putting out the fire? I've often supposed that jetting a fire extinguisher into a wood stove would blow a bunch of hot coals out the door and into the dwelling space --- did that happen?

Any particular technique you used with the fire extinguisher?

The fire extinguisher I've used was really designed to put out a fire in an open area, not the confines of a small wood stove which limits the ability to get at the fire in a chimney, I'm guessing.

Anything else you might have done or wish you had done?

Glad it sounds like you saved the day!

 

[kennyp2339]

I think my question here is post fire... what do you check after you had one, especially if its double wall pipe to class A pipe? I def understand the masonry chimney inspection, cleaning, cracked flue tiles, crack masonry.. but class A seems to me a little tougher unless your pulling each section checking to see if the inner pipe is warped? and all insulation is in place? I don't really know.

 

[webby3650]

I think my question here is post fire... what do you check after you had one, especially if its double wall pipe to class A pipe? I def understand the masonry chimney inspection, cleaning, cracked flue tiles, crack masonry.. but class A seems to me a little tougher unless your pulling each section checking to see if the inner pipe is warped? and all insulation is in place? I don't really know.

A visual inspection is all that’s necessary typically. Look up and down the pipe, if there’s any warping then it should be replaced. Also look over any exposed pipe for discoloration or possible charing on framing members. I’m guessing this was a very mild flue fire and sounds as if it was extinguished quickly. I’d say it’ll probably be fine.

 

[ratsrepus]

Why does that matter? Just curious.

I would assume he meant did he create the blast furnace effect.

 

[jatoxico]

Remember sometimes paper can be sucked and ignite the creosote cause that happened to me. But shouldn't create build up.

I have always heard cardboard is notorious for this.

 

[Rickb]

I have always heard cardboard is notorious for this.

Why would cardboard be any different then paper? Tho cardboard does have a slight amount of glue on it.

 

[SculptureOfSound]

Why would cardboard be any different then paper? Tho cardboard does have a slight amount of glue on it.

I'm not sure why but it is. Burned a lot of cardboard in the outside fire pit last year and pieces - sometimes rather large - were always getting airborne and would stay glowing 15+ feet into the sky

 

[Skidooer]

Wow thanks for the reply’s! I did have the door shut, flue temp was around 450f 18” above the stovetop. The Cat was almost in the active so I was waiting to close the bypass. Actually both the stove and pipe never really heated up to normal temp, I just started hearing all the snapping and cracking that’s when I went up on the roof! I can understand this happening if I over fired the stove or the pipe, but neither was that hot yet.
I shut the bypass and thermostat, then gave it 3 blasts with the fire ext from the roof. It didn’t blow anything out downstairs, thank god! Took three blasts to kill it tho! Seemed to stall out in the attic area, from the cold air up there maybe, I dunno but that’s when I decided to kill it. Pretty cool looking tho, but scary at the same time! I threw all the wood out in the snow, thankfully we have snow on the ground!
I have been burning a lot of Amazon boxes and paper lately, and iv heard that stuff can build up in the chimney. Makes sense as the bypass is open for this. The new Cat lights off nice, I’m pretty sure it’s working ok. For 400$ CAD it damn well better!
Gonna let her cool today and sweep and inspect tonight or tmrw. Then burn a few weeks and inspect again. Then if it continues I will know the Cat isn’t burning clean. And no more amazon boxes lol!

 

[Skidooer]

Any ideas or suggestions plse thow them at me fellas! Thanks

 

[Dataman]

Can we have pictures? Sure glad you caught it. Also next time wake the Wife up just in case you don't put it out. Few seconds would not have made that big of difference. Tell her all what happened. I hope you got your Lotto Ticket. Your on winning streak.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks for the details on what was going on when it happened. Mine just did a similar (though milder) thing recently but I had the door cracked.

The bk stoves in bypass shoot flames right up the flue. Cardboard fires tend to end up with plastic in them from tape, foam from packaging, and other tag along type junk.

I suggest you stop burning garbage in the stove. It’s the only thing abnormal about your operational procedure that might be to blame.

Stick to firewood please!

 

[lsucet]

Any ideas or suggestions plse thow them at me fellas! Thanks

Try using super cedar if is possible to start the fire. Try to start the fire front center and as high as you can to get the cat to temp quicker and the flue is not drafting that strong yet. I used that method and 99% of the time the cat get to temp way before the flue. Using that method i close the bypass and the flue still between 250 to 300 max. Hope this help

 

[webby3650]

Any ideas or suggestions plse thow them at me fellas! Thanks

One suggestion: stop burning cardboard... it’s bad for the catalyst.

 

[jatoxico]

Why would cardboard be any different then paper? Tho cardboard does have a slight amount of glue on it.

I think its as Sculpture said, big, relatively long burning chunks flying up the flue and igniting the creosote.

 

[dh1989]

I would stop with the cardboard for the reasons mentioned above, but something else to keep in mind is the cat thermometer lag. I’ve roasted the flue out on a reload and had the cat thermometer still showing inactive. My theory is the heat is being pulled straight up the flue by the strong draft and the cat isn’t seeing much heat until the bypass closes and the hot gases are redirected. If you have a flue thermometer you may want to consider closing the bypass as soon as you reach around 400F. My cat always goes bright orange even if the cat probe is still reading inactive.

 

[Woody Stover]

One suggestion: stop burning cardboard... it’s bad for the catalyst.

Even if you might think that having the bypass open will send any harmful chemicals up the chimney and not through the cat, I still would not trust it. There is always some amount of exhaust being pulled through the cat. The manuals for all stoves, cat and non-cat, will say "burn only wood."

 

[Woody Stover]

something else to keep in mind is the cat thermometer lag. I’ve roasted the flue out on a reload and had the cat thermometer still showing inactive. My theory is the heat is being pulled straight up the flue by the strong draft and the cat isn’t seeing much heat

Right. Something I do is cut the air to somewhere around half within a couple of minutes when ramping up a new load; Seems to keep more heat in the box to warm up the cat area quicker, and less heat goes up the flue to possibly overheat the pipe.

 

[jetsam]

Throw some cardboard on a bonfire at night and you will see one reason not to put it in your stove.

The other reason is that it tends to contain nasty stuff like glue, fiberglass threads, plastic tape, and colored inks.