who here has had a chimney fire?

[tarzan]

Wondering how many here have actually experienced a chimney fire. Things like the type of stove involved? What do you think caused it? And if there was any damage done, besides ruining your pants.

I had one a few years ago. Was burning wood that wasn't ready in a small stove I have since seen referred to as a Chinese death box! The power had been out for two days and the water lines were froze. With no electricity the little stove was my only source of heat and I was running it hot after burning (smoldering) fires in it for about two weeks.

I was setting beside the stove opening mail when I heard the famous freight train sound. I jumped up, ran outside to see the black smoke billowing out of the chimney which was quickly replaced by fire billowing out of the chimney. Came back in the house to see the single wall pipe from the stove to the chimney glowing BRIGHT orange, it looked like you could throw a pencil through it! The whole thing lasted a few minutes with at least an hours worth of popping and cracking afterwards.

No real harm was done but needless to say, I have since changed many things about my burning habits and "never" want to go through that again.

 

[mellow]

Had 2 of em back in my slammer Pre-epa days, the creosote would gather right above my smoke shelf and if I burned cardboard or pine really hot it would catch the creosote on fire. No damage was done other than having the fire department out here and me feeling like a heel the whole time with the neighbors all looking at the ladder trucks in my driveway.

I still can hear that whooshing sound in my brain, I don't think you forget that and the fire shooting out the chimney.

Shortly after the second one I found Hearth.com and was baptised in fire.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

My brother used to have several a season ,with his smoke dragon insert. I would think if you starved it for air you could control it but easier said than done.

 

[tarzan]

Glad you replied Mellow, was starting to think I was going to be the village idiot, LOL. Hearth.com is a great site and I would expect the overwhelming majority here have learned from the advice given here but also suspected a few (other than me) lerned the hard way from burning in the pre Hearth.com days.

 

[Dustin92]

We had one in December- 1990 Englander insert, Brick chimney inside a brick chase. No real damage done, but very scary! Black smoke and chunks of creosote flying out of the chimney, neighbors called the fire department, said there was flames shooting out of the chimney. Rumbled like a train until the stove was shut down, threw a cup of water in the stove to steam out the fire. 3 fire trucks in front of the house, neighbors gawking, thinking the house was on fire. Firemen opened the stove with the bypass shut, filling the house with smoke. Was probably caused by not so dry wood and smoldering the fire.

 

[CenterTree]

Just to add is it possible to have a chimney fire and NOT even know it too?

Is there such thing as a "small" chimney fire? Or short burning?

Do you think there are a lot of people in that camp I don't know.

 

[GENECOP]

Just to add is it possible to have a chimney fire and NOT even know it too?

Is there such thing as a "small" chimney fire? Or short burning?

Do you think there are a lot of people in that camp I don't know.

Guy on here a couple of days ago falls into that category., he posted pictures of a clean flue after the event...

 

[mellow]

Many people have chimney fires while sleeping or away from home and never know it happened, sometimes the neighbor might see it and call the FD and that is the only way they would know they had one.

Most of the time however it is when reloading and throwing in cardboard or something that burns hot and quick that the flames will reach high enough to ignite the creosote.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Just to add is it possible to have a chimney fire and NOT even know it too?

Is there such thing as a "small" chimney fire? Or short burning?

Do you think there are a lot of people in that camp I don't know.

Happens all the time.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Just to add is it possible to have a chimney fire and NOT even know it too?

Is there such thing as a "small" chimney fire? Or short burning?

Do you think there are a lot of people in that camp I don't know.

I was in a discussion in this forum with someone a while back about what constitutes a "chimney fire". My view point was that it is very common to burn residual creosote off your glass door, above the baffle in your stove, and up into the lower part of your flue, but that that did not constitute being a chimney fire. His view point was that anytime you burn off creosote in your flue (even the lower part) that it is considered a chimney fire.
If his viewpoint is right then we all have chimney fires all the time, and it kind of dilutes the meaning and seriousness of what a chimney fire is.
My viewpoint is that a chimney fire is a self sustaining thing, that creates it's own heat and draft, and once ignited does not depend of the fire in the stove to sustain itself or continue growing.

 

[Cynnergy]

When I was a kid, we had a chimney fire on Christmas once (in a fireplace). My dad got a bit over enthusiastic with burning the leftover present wrapping.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

Guy on here a couple of days ago falls into that category., he posted pictures of a clean flue after the event...

that'd be me. None of the classic signs of a chimney fire, just an over heated furnace, a few sparks coming out the chimney cap and a perfectly clean flue afterwards. It burned itself out within 5 minutes.

 

[firefighterjake]

Never had one . . . well nix that . . . first year I was burning with my new stove I think I may have had a very small one . . . heard what sounded like rice krispies tinkling down the double wall stove pipe. No rushing locomotives or jet sounds. No flames. No cinders or sparks coming out of the top. Also, no damage . . . other than a bruised ego, but the lesson learned on the importance of burning at the proper temps was hammered home.

That said . . . I've been to many a chimney fire and the common themes typically involve one or more of the following:

a) Home owner is burning unseasoned wood or wood that they believe is seasoned . . . when it isn't.

b) Home owner is not burning the woodstove at the proper temp -- the stove is either being choked down so much that it is running too cool and making creosote and then is run too hot catching the creosote on fire.

c) Home owner has not cleaned the chimney and/or doesn't even remember the last time he even inspected the chimney

Seems like these chimney fires most often occur whenever I was a) sound asleep at 1 a.m., b) about to do something fun with friends, c) hanging out with my then fiance, d) dealing with a snowstorm, e) having to face my fear of heights by going up on a slick, ice/snow covered metal roof with a wicked pitch or f) all of the above.

Most of the time damage was minimal . . . or non-existent. Depended largely on:

a) how severe the fire was -- hot hot was the fire, how much creosote was plugging up the chimney, chimney design. By this I mean a very hot fire with loads of creosote as fuel could crack the clay liner . . . and a chimney without a liner or placed too close to combustible framing could result in the fire spreading to the house.

b) how "energetic", "enthusiastic" and "inexperienced" the firefighters and their response to the fire was. By this I mean I have seen one fire department that takes the tact that all fires should be put out quickly and the building should be saved without regarding the chimney or stove . . . and they have been known to just put a hose down the chimney and kill the fire quickly . . . and damage the chimney in the process. I have also seen firefighters who have had to deploy a heavy weighted chain to break through the thick layer of creosote and this can result in damage to the chimney.

Usually chimney fires seem to occur with the pre-EPA stoves . . . perhaps because I still see so many of them in use around here . . . or perhaps because they could have the air control dialed down to nothing.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

GREAT post FFJ!

 

[bholler]

I am the one that lumber jack was referring to when he said about the difference of opinion of what constitutes a chimney fire. Csia defines a chimney fire as "the presence of actual combustion within some part of the venting system". And yes there are an infinite number of different severities of chimney fires. And most of the time there is no damage done but if you know one the entire system should be carefully inspected because even a small fire can cause damage. Also your system should be inspected periodically because there are also many fire that occur with out the knowledge of the homeowner.

 

[GeHmTS]

never. I was always told to never play with a chimney fire.

 

[Christopix]

...a chimney fire is a self sustaining thing, that creates it's own heat and draft, and once ignited does not depend of the fire in the stove to sustain itself or continue growing.

I think this is a perfect definition of a chimney fire.

 

[bholler]

I would like to know how one would determine if a fire is self sustaining? And honestly I don't see why it matters if it is burning the temps are going to be to high weather it is self sustaining or not.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Show me where this logic is failing.
If the burning off of soot and creosote constitutes combustion.
If you have ever burned wood in your stove in a manner that you developed dark soot and creosote on your glass, then it is almost certain that soot and creosote has also formed in the upper chambers of your stove and flue.
If you then proceed to burn a fire in your wood stove that achieves a high enough temperature to burn off that soot and creosote off your glass and upper chambers of your stove, you will almost certainly also burn off some of that soot and creosote in the lower part of your chimney.
Therefore you can logically say, any time you have burned a hot enough fire in your stove to burn soot and creosote off the glass and upper chamber of your stove, you have also had a chimney fire.

 

[bholler]

If that soot and creosote actually catches fire in the venting system then yes you had a small chimney fire. It was probably a very small one and caused no damage but still a chimney fire. I am curios where that definition came from also I have never heard it anywhere else.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

If that soot and creosote actually catches fire in the venting system then yes you had a small chimney fire. It was probably a very small one and caused no damage but still a chimney fire. I am curios where that definition came from also I have never heard it anywhere else.

I don't think you are following the logic.
Creosote is flammable, which means it burns right?
If you get your stove hot enough, it "burns" right?
If it is burning off your glass and the upper chambers of your stove, then what happens to it in the lower part of your flue?
If it is not burning, then just what exactly is happening to it?

 

[bholler]

I am following the logic and I am saying if it is burning in the venting system it is a chimney fire. And by the way you can cook off the volatiles with out actually igniting it that would not be a chimney fire. Also just because it is hot enough in the fire box to burn off the glass does not mean it is hot enough at the pipe to ignite the creosote there.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

It is precisely those volatile substances in the creosote that make creosote (and wood for that mater) flammable, they are what sustain and burn in a chimney fire (and the fire in your stove), without those volatile substances creosote is just a bunch of ash. As long as your temperatures and oxygen levels are high enough they will burn, not cook. It is the low temps or oxygen levels that caused them to condense and form in the first place, it is the the high temps and oxygen levels that will burn them off.

Furthermore. Your csia definition of a chimney fire; "the presence of actual combustion within some part of the venting system" seems kind of stringent. Any older pre EPA stove that didn't have a baffle would have a significant amount of flames (combustion) entering the lower part of a the flue during even a moderate fire in the stove. And even modern EPA stoves during a roaring fire we will have some flames that penetrate the lower parts of the the flue, even though there is generally significantly less because of the baffle. If any flames are entering the flue, then according to that definition and your logic, combustion is taking place in there and we should be calling the fire department, or at the very least immediately shutting down the stove and doing a full flue inspection.

 

[tarzan]

Bholler, I suppose that what you describe as a chimney fire would, by definition be a chimney fire. But I figure by burning hot fires, I'm not only preventing creosote from building up but burning off what little may have accumulated before it gets to the point of causing what I would call a chimney fire. Sorta like a controlled burn to prevent a forest fire. I may be wrong because I have never monitored the inside of my stack, just suspect there must be some kind of build up from fresh fires that gets burned off.

 

[bholler]

Yes I agree tarzan and if you are burning hot all the time you wont get much creosote buildup at all so the danger of fire is very low. and by the way it is not my definition it is the Chimney Safety Institute of Americas definition.