Neighbor's house caught fire.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

Same thing happened to my Grandmother a week before Christmas.
Wood burning stove flue started a fire in the attic and it spread all throughout the place she has probably 75% of her roof and a whole lot of damaged house.
Volunteer fire dept did a great job and had 10 alarms on a 2 degree night, grandma tried to fight the fire till she was dragged out. What a horrible thing to have happen, wouldnt wish something like that on anyone.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

That is terrible well glad everyone is ok!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

A couple of days before Christmas about 1/2 mile away there was a house fire where 3 young men lived unfortunately one of them did not make it out,still no word what caused it

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

Sorry to hear about the fire. I`m a volunteer firefighter and we got called out to a chimney fire at 7:30 Christmas morning and luckily no damage . The owner said he had it cleaned by someone posing as a professional only a week before . The guy cleaned the upper insulated part but not the elbow coming out of the stove.....burning creosote turned it blood red.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

yea, those chimney fires can really worry you. You really need to get on your roof in the fall in check to see how much creosote build up is in your chimney.

If you have a wood furnace with a draft regulator, when the fire is smuldering, it will build up creosote. this spring ours was about half way closed off with creosote.

But those firefighters are worth their weight in gold. They will do about anything to try and some someone. A few years back here in MD a townhome caught on fire in the middle of the night. A 5 yr old girl ended up dieing in the fire. The firefighters could just not get in the house. one who tried got his helmet melted, and he just could not get any closer. All from a volunteer.
I think that was a furnace fire in the basement.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

When we lived in Maine, we would fill the chimney with straw and burn it. All the farmers in the area did it that way. That would clean out the creosote. BTW, I had a real brick chimney. If you turn the stove up at least once a day, that would eliminate most of the creosote. These newer pellet stoves can get a significant build up of creosote and you really have to watch any elbow in the chimney as the first place it will build up. Those "cleaning logs" are worthless...

BTW, I was a fire fighter back then and all our neighbors would have a piece of slate on the roof next to the chimney so the fire dept could cover the top and extinguish the fire.

We did have a chimney fire once and it sounded like a freight train going through the house. I got on the roof and covered the top. That is when I learned about cleaning the chimney with straw once a season

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

or just sweep the chimney. How would the straw not start a chimney fire?

We take a rope with a weight on the end, and cut a piece of wood to fit the chimney, and run it down the chimney.

how many bales does it take?

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

Sorry to hear the news but am glad no one was hurt. Buildings and things inside can be replaced but people can't. We will all do well to keep out loved ones safe with working smoke/fire alarms. PLEASE check yours regularly!!

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

boateric said:

Sorry to hear the news but am glad no one was hurt. Buildings and things inside can be replaced but people can't. We will all do well to keep out loved ones safe with working smoke/fire alarms. PLEASE check yours regularly!!

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Twice per year we turn the clocks back/forward one hour. When you do that, inspect your smoke alarms and change the batteries... easy way to remember

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

Last year in DC when we got hammered with snow, our neighbors house caught on fire at 4 am. She was alone as the hubby was out on plowing duty at Dulles airport. Fortunately the smoke detector was working and she ran out the back door and over her fence in nothing but a nightgown through several feet of snow. They lost everything including one cat, oddly enough named charcoal. Makes you feel thankful.

I have experience a chimney fire at my uncles house and let me tell you it is not fun. It is very important not to forget to clean out the chimney and not burn un-seasoned wood.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

As I was looking at the threads in DC I came across this one ... Neighbor's house caught fire. Started by Tyme2fish, Yesterday 05:20 PM

My heavens, man, if you are going to start a fire, don't announce it on the internet!!!!!

Sorry, the title just caught me off guard a little bit. It is truly a shame and not to be made fun of. As has already been said, check your smoke detectors and keep your chimney clean. Glad there were no injuries ... the family or the firefighters. No injuries means it ended about as well as it could. Hopefully the family is fully insured and will end up with a new house ... but that doesn't replace the horror of watching your residence and all your possessions go up in smoke.

Tyme, I don't need to tell you this, but your neighbors will need additional support ... mostly emotional ... at this time. Be there for them, I know you will.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

bowman316 said:

or just sweep the chimney. How would the straw not start a chimney fire?

We take a rope with a weight on the end, and cut a piece of wood to fit the chimney, and run it down the chimney.

how many bales does it take?

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Hiring a chimney sweep, or getting the right tools is the best way to clean the chimney ... but you HAVE to make sure you do a good job around any elbows. As for the straw method, what it does is create a "controlled burn" to clean the chimney out every year. If you do it yearly it is not a problem ... as long as your flu has not cracks or breaks in it where the flame can breach into the interior walls. But if it gets to hot and cracks the liner ... well, now you have a big problem.

So, yes, it will work, but it is not the best route. (I know, I used to use a method similar to this, but the more chimney fires I get called to, the less this method appeals to me).

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

so a wood stove is something one cooks with or is it more of a fireplace deal? are there fire proof chimneys?

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

gonefishie said:

so a wood stove is something one cooks with or is it more of a fireplace deal? are there fire proof chimneys?

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We use our wood stove in the living room mostly for heat not cooking, but it does have a griddle on top of it. One could put a pan on it for cooking if say power went out.

We clean our flue and stove out late fall each season.

when a wood stove/firepace is used, the combustion is rarely 100% burned, especially when it is first lit, and there is more fuel than air, (smoke occurs), or when the stove is going good, and a damper is closed to slow the burn down to extend burn time on the wood, you restrict air flow, again (smoke occurs). Many can get wood for free, so wood is a better alternative to burning gas or heating oil, and I can get my living room much warmer with the wood stove than I would ever have a thermostat set on.

From Wikipedia:
A chimney fire is the combustion of residue deposits referred to as creosote, on the inner surfaces of chimney tiles, flue liners, stove pipes, etc. The process begins with the incomplete combustion (burning) of fuel in the attached appliance, usually a wood or coal stove. The unburned volatiles are heated to the vapor state but not consumed due to a lack of adequate heat and oxygen within the appliance. These volatile distillates escape into the chimney, where they contact cooler surfaces and condense into tar-like deposits. Successive layers accumulate until either the chimney plugs completely, or the chimney reaches a temperature and oxygen level at which the deposit will ignite. Due to the concentrated level of volatile material now present, these fires tend to burn very hot.[1] The high temperatures stress the mechanical strength of the chimney causing distortion of metal structures, and failure of ceramic structures.

Causes of the deposits which lead to chimney fires include using green/wet fuels, the operation of appliances with insufficient air intake, and low operating temperatures for prolonged periods followed by hot fires. Such practice typically occurs when mild weather periods are followed by cold snaps.

If you use a wood or coal stove, plan on either cleaning or having it done at least yearly or a chimney fire will eventually happen.

Terrible stories, sorry to hear.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

We also heat with wood. We have a Buck Stove insert in our living room and a free standing stove in the basement. We rarely use the basement stove but the upstair's stove is burning all the time to provide heat.

Yes, I clean the flue every fall and if there is a warm day in the winter,I'll perform a mid-season cleaning. Our Buck Stove is fairly efficient and doesn't form much creosote,but we still inspect and clean yearly.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

Creosote buildup is also caused by a fire that doesn't burn hot enough. A chimney/flue is designed to certain dimensions based on expected fuel source (and subsequent produced temps) so that the gases and unburnt fuels can be properly exhausted.

There is a whole science behind chimney design (which I will not bore you with).

Also, never burn garbage in a fireplace. Heck, even newspaper isn't good for it.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

Just to echo the above, I went to change the back up batteries on our hard wire smoke detectors since one started chipring in the middle of the night last week. Turns out the one in the main hallway upstairs simply doesn't make any noise. The led shows green and operable but nothing happens when you test it. Our house and detectors were new in 1996. They really do have a limited lifetime.

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

Beefer said:

Also, never burn garbage in a fireplace. Heck, even newspaper isn't good for it.

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Wow, I'm suprised I'm alive today. My dad used to put all sorts of crap in his woodburner. Plastic was the wortst. Remind me to thank him for always thinking safety first.

Glad to here the OP neighbors are well!

Re: Neighbor's house caught fire.

Thoughts to the family. Terrible thing to happen.

Can't add much to the prevention discussion, except to say that if you hire a chimney sweep, be sure to check them out first, and check their work after. Nothing worse than paying for a half**s job.


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