New to wood stoves - what is the best way to control a fire if it gets out of hand?

[nopolis]

Hi, I'm learning how to use a wood stove and I have seen a few suggestions here if temps begin to get too hot in the stove.

I see people suggest opening the door to cool things off, I see the suggestions to throw some baking soda in to calm the fire, and I also see suggestions to cover the secondary air intake, but that this can lead to dangerous accumulation of gasses and a potential explosion.

I want to be able to confidently and safely use my stove, and I think it would be wise to have as many options in place to control a fire as necessary in case I load too much wood, turn the air down too late, etc. I am particularly interested in the baking soda - are there any dangers or downsides? Any suggestions or information would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[begreen]

Opening up the door to let an inrush of cold air is effective, but only if one stays vigilant or have a screen to stop embers from popping out.

 

[begreen]

A change of underwear is recommended after the first time.

 

[nopolis]

I believe it. I managed not to panic but once the smoke alarm starts going off and my dog and wife start panicking it certainly becomes more difficult to make decisions. That's why I hit mine with an extinguisher the first time. I was unaware of the fire fighting properties of baking soda. Looking into it I think I'm going to start keeping more of it around in general.

I did learn how to remove the air tubes and baffle boards today, which allows me to see all the way up my chimney with a flashlight and mirror, so I know I can at least keep an eye out for major problems in between cleanings and inspections. Learning the stove inside and out is helping me a lot in understanding safe operation

 

[Rickb]

Keep a bucket of ash around. you can shovel some in to dampen the fire down pretty easy.
I empty my stove into a bucket I keep outside. Once the stove needs to be emptied again I dump the bucket. so I alsways have at least 1/2 a bucket.

 

[rijim]

What caused the runaway?

 

[Rickb]

What caused the runaway?

got to remember not all of us have a BK.... The others cant really turn there's down.. it just pulled from secondary if you do which makes it like a flame thrower. If you have a lot of draft or let if go to long bfore you turn it down it can get a little hot.

 

[nopolis]

What caused the runaway?

I basically killed it before it became a runaway. It looked like a runaway to me at the time, but it wasn't. It was my first reload and I didn't realize the level of gasses that would be firing off after adding wood to the hot coal bed.

It did make me realize that I should have a backup plan other than airflow. I found the EPA airflow but I'm reluctant to cut it off and cause a gas buildup. Probably going to just get a bucket of baking soda to keep on hand.

It also happened to be right as some heavy winds and snow blew in and I think that I got some extra draft from that

 

[TomMcDonald]

I don't want to downplay your experience, but in my time burning wood stoves this has never really been an issue for me, nor has it really occurred to me to prepare for it.

 

[Poindexter]

I had a vintage (belonged to my grandfather) woodstove that was extraordinarily difficult to control once it got rolling.

It was a beautiful parlor stove with a bunch of nickel plated grape vines on it, circa 1870 build. It turns out the cast iron bottom bowl had a crack in it- an uncontrolled air leak.

Check all you gaskets next time the stove is cold, and work towards dialing in your hot reload process.

 

[Ajcoxen]

If you have wood and active flames will opening the door just make it hotter? This happened with the air controls closed? Still couldn’t slow it down? Why was your smoke alarm going off?

 

[joop]

next time u have a good fire going open the door slowly you will see how it reacts.also never had it happen to me but i notice the smaller the splits the more intense the fire looks

 

[bholler]

If you have wood and active flames will opening the door just make it hotter? This happened with the air controls closed? Still couldn’t slow it down? Why was your smoke alarm going off?

The smoke alarm was going off because it's a new stove and that's the paint backing in. It happens every time.

 

[begreen]

What caused the runaway?

With only 2 splits added it was not a runaway.

 

[Eman85]

Best you should do is burn small and build up slowly. When I say slowly I mean burn a small fire a few times and get a feel for having a wood fire inside your house. Being cautious about fire is a good thing but it's like water you can't be scared of it and own a boat. As someone said build a small fire then open the door and watch how it reacts, close the air and see what happens.

 

[joop]

after a while it will be like putting on socks,you will grunt putting the wood in and then sit and enjoy.

 

[cahaak]

The easiest way to reduce a stove output is to completely close the primary air. There is no build up of gasses that will explode, please stop this silly talk. Reduced combustion air reduces the oxidation rate, it is as simple as that. Once it is hot, it takes time to cool down, 10s of minutes. A wood stove is a large heating device and doesn't heat up or cool that quickly. You need a lot more experience running your stove. They only run away if the primary air is open with a lot of fuel, or if you have a massive air leak.

 

[rijim]

I went 25 years or so without burning, when I got going again, my experience was with an old smoke dragon and I went to a Jotul F400 (secondary burn tube) stove. I struggled at first with less than ideal wood (moisture above 20%); when I finally pulled it all together and the secondary burn kicked in it was like holy chit what is that all about. The stove top hit 650 - 700 degrees and my stack was high also (can’t remember number), the smell was significant because I had never burned hot enough to off-gas all the chemicals in the paint. I learned where the intake was and balled up foil wrap that would allow me to restrict that intake down and I started keeping a few unseasoned logs close by and planned to toss one in to calm things down; never needed either for the 10 years I had that stove. Bottom line; is there any chance you experienced similar? Look at the top of the stove in my avatar, there is a raging fire at the top and glowing embers on the wood supply; that is the sweet spot, max heat, and low creosote contribution. If that was not what you experienced then check that the stove is tight (gaskets, seams, etc.) then have a look at the draft; there are a few sweep on here that can offer an opinion on dampers to limit the draft; once your setup is proven, the rest is to train the operator. Many use a timer to remind them it is time to start working back the air intake, if you don’t have temp sensors on stove top and pipe, consider adding them to give you reference points.

 

[bert670]

I don’t really keep anything handy for a “run away stove”, but I keep a fire extinguisher and one of those fire extinguishing smoke sticks handy incase the day comes and there’s a chimney fire.

 

[rudysmallfry]

I keep ashes nearby, but it sounds like you need to redefine what you consider to be out of control. Especially with these newer stoves, the secondary burn is a whole different gear than the primary burn. Once you get into that secondary burn stage, you're in new territory. You can pretty much throw some splits onto hot coals and shut the air down almost right away and still maintain high enough flue temps for clean burning while keeping all that lovely off gassing inside the firebox for a nice lazy slow burn.

I made the reload mistake so many times with my stove, I've lost count. Since I only knew about operating smoke dragons, I was still under the impression that I needed to get them really burning before turning down the air, but that's just not the case. Once I got more comfortable just reloading the shutting down the air, I noticed the flue temps didn't really drop at all. This is all assuming well seasoned wood of course. No more sitting on the couch panicking watching my flue temps climb into the outer limits since I took too long to shut it down. Instead it's, toss em in, shut air, go to bed. You'll get the hang of it.

 

[PaulBunyun]

In addition to the other suggestions in the thread I keep several Chimfex by the stove. They look like flares, you activate them, throw them and close the door. It's supposed to put out a chimney fire in 22 seconds. Obviously worst case scenario but they are another option.

Chimfex By Orion Safety Products - CSIA Approved Chimney Fire Extinguisher - Safe, Quick and Easy - Stops Chimney Fires In Homes in Under 22 Secs. - MADE IN USA https://a.co/d/6BHw0nT

 

[bholler]

In addition to the other suggestions in the thread I keep several Chimfex by the stove. They look like flares, you activate them, throw them and close the door. It's supposed to put out a chimney fire in 22 seconds. Obviously worst case scenario but they are another option.

Chimfex By Orion Safety Products - CSIA Approved Chimney Fire Extinguisher - Safe, Quick and Easy - Stops Chimney Fires In Homes in Under 22 Secs. - MADE IN USA https://a.co/d/6BHw0nT

They will put it out quickly by starving it of oxygen. But it can reignite if the temp in the chimney is still hot hot enough

 

[bholler]

The easiest way to reduce a stove output is to completely close the primary air. There is no build up of gasses that will explode, please stop this silly talk. Reduced combustion air reduces the oxidation rate, it is as simple as that. Once it is hot, it takes time to cool down, 10s of minutes. A wood stove is a large heating device and doesn't heat up or cool that quickly. You need a lot more experience running your stove. They only run away if the primary air is open with a lot of fuel, or if you have a massive air leak.

Or if you have excessive draft. Closing the primary air is not always enough. And yes you can absolutely have a buildup of smoke in the stove that ignites and causes a small explosion. It's called back puffing and it's pretty common.

 

[nopolis]

Thanks everyone.

I have one more question.

I cleaned the stove relatively well of any leftover gunk from the drychem fire extenguisher. I can see up my stove pipe and there is some in there. My plan was to get the chimney swept to get it out this week and then get back to using the stove with the new lessons I have learned thanks to you guys and some trial and error, mostly errors, on my part.

However, I am now six hours into a three day ice storm. If I lose power, would it be safe to use the stove with the drychem remnants still in the stove pipe? My understanding is there may be a release of ammonia if it is burned but I wouldn't think it would be enough to be an issue. Any input is appreciated as this is very difficult to find information regarding online.

 

[begreen]

This is difficult to determine. It's unknown how much ammonium phosphate was released and how much is remaining as a coating. That said, if you lose power for an extended period of time and have no heat, then the wood stove may be the only option. The system will be safe in the short term. It's longer-term corrosion that is the concern.

Did the thermometers arrive? They should help you burn more confidently.