savageactor7
ArboristSite Guru
Good to hear you and your son got out OK nomak. I'm looking forward to seeing the report posted.
chimeny/house fire
- Thread starter nomak
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newb
ArboristSite Operative
CTYank, The guy nearly loses his house, comes on here to offer a warning to everyone, and your going to rip him for spelling? I can't even think of the words to rip a person like you! Pete
newb- put your glasses on, it was pook that used the word chimni not the op.
before my chimney was lined i had a fair amount of cresote in the chimney, it was an exterior brick tile flue that takes a long time to heat up. the sweep had to break all the clay flue to install the liner. the next year when he swept it, he left the soot on the damper shelf, i lit a fire the next day and my whole house 2 storey 4400 sf filled with smoke, didn't now what to do so i took the 3 pieces of firewood out of the insert and tossed them on the front lawn. still smoking, called fd. my smoke detectors didn't even go off. luckily the family was out and it was only around 7 pm, could have also had different ending
before my chimney was lined i had a fair amount of cresote in the chimney, it was an exterior brick tile flue that takes a long time to heat up. the sweep had to break all the clay flue to install the liner. the next year when he swept it, he left the soot on the damper shelf, i lit a fire the next day and my whole house 2 storey 4400 sf filled with smoke, didn't now what to do so i took the 3 pieces of firewood out of the insert and tossed them on the front lawn. still smoking, called fd. my smoke detectors didn't even go off. luckily the family was out and it was only around 7 pm, could have also had different ending
Pulp Friction
ArboristSite Operative
So glad it turned out with relatively minimal damage and especially with no tragedy. Could you give us some insight to the type of wood you've been burning since you installed the stove? I'm just trying to learn as much as I can from this incident. Is the stove an EPA stove?
nomak
ArboristSite Operative
just an update on my incident. A fire investigator came out that was hired by the insurance company to find the cause of the fire and its kinda looking like it may of been the company that installed the fireplace didnt do a good job or maybe put to hot of a fireplace insert into the area it was placed. meaning the stove put off more heat than the original structure from the fire place it had before could take and may have started the fire from abient heat. he pointed out to me that the fire started either under the insert or behind it becuase the metal housing that was built around the orignal fireplace is discolored and disfigured from heat damage where it was the hottest at.Then the fire just eventually just made its way up the housing that surrounds the liner and its made of wood so it burnt very quickly.. but all the fire damage is on the outside of the house, none on the inside. I just have a bit of smoke smell still left and then a mess onthe carpet where the fire dept put the fire out that was in the insert burning..coals on floor and smashed into carpet but no fire damage inside.. all on out side and back side of the interior walls and no insulation left on that side of my house so I have a bit of draft blowing in my front room..
I was burning seasoned maple wood in a Regency fireplace insert which was a EPA type insert to the person that was inquiring to what kind of wood and setup I was using.
On another note the investigator asked me how I start my fires and how I manage the damper as far as opening and closing it when I put wood in and before I go to bed at night and he said from what he can tell I sounds like Im pretty up to par on my burning techniques as I was doing it the way it should be done. I was also able to give him all recipts from the installer and company that it was bought from. Brochure of insert they chose for me to go with and my reciept from where it was clean a couple months ago..so its looking good for me as far as not being the fault of the fire. I read alot of stuff on here as well as the owners manul on operating the stove before I ever lit a fire in it and have been burning the proper ways with proper seasoned wood with no problems till the other night. but its looking like it maybe something else at fault or someone nothing I did wrong.
I was burning seasoned maple wood in a Regency fireplace insert which was a EPA type insert to the person that was inquiring to what kind of wood and setup I was using.
On another note the investigator asked me how I start my fires and how I manage the damper as far as opening and closing it when I put wood in and before I go to bed at night and he said from what he can tell I sounds like Im pretty up to par on my burning techniques as I was doing it the way it should be done. I was also able to give him all recipts from the installer and company that it was bought from. Brochure of insert they chose for me to go with and my reciept from where it was clean a couple months ago..so its looking good for me as far as not being the fault of the fire. I read alot of stuff on here as well as the owners manul on operating the stove before I ever lit a fire in it and have been burning the proper ways with proper seasoned wood with no problems till the other night. but its looking like it maybe something else at fault or someone nothing I did wrong.
Windwalker7
ArboristSite Guru
Sorry to here those news. Glad you guys are OK though.
WRONG. I was responding to "pook" and his butchery. Relax, please.
I'm just glad nobody got hurt, having seen what damage such a fire can do when not detected in time.
DangerTree
ArboristSite Operative
Hopefully the installer is brought up to speed on the findings. The next time someone may not be so fortunate!
nomak
ArboristSite Operative
yes the damper handle was very hot when I closed it off all the way when i was made aware of the fire. The handle has never been een warm to the touch when I used the stove last season or this season until the night of the fire. I closed it hoping to starve the fire of oxygen and get it out in the insert part anyway. originally the damper was only closed half to three-fourths of the way so it would burn long into the night and hold a nice bed of coals for me to get a fire going again the next morning..
jimdad07
Addicted to ArboristSite
I think he means the draft. To Nomak: how are you going to proceed? Are you going to continue burning wood?
nomak
ArboristSite Operative
yes I want to actuly get a bigger fireplace if I can out of the insurance company check or however they pay to fix it. but mine struggled to keep it 70 degrees in the house when it got below 30 degrees or less. I have a lot of square footage to heat and would like one that no mater how cold it got outside it kept it at least 75 inside and then run you out of the house on a fairly warm day where it was in the upper 30's or low 40's. although a little shaken up about the whole ordeal for its my first fire to ever be in and hopefully last I still love the joy of sitting next to a warm fire on a cold winter day..and everything else that goes with the burning of wood.. cutting, splitting, etc....
ok nomak, now its time for some pictures please. when you mentioned about a metal liner in the fireplace i need to see this. do you have a masonry fireplace or was it a heatilator type with cold air grills by the floor and warm air grills up near the top of the fireplace and a blower fan? my dad has a regency insert in a heatilator type fireplace, now i'm slightly concerned, what model # of insert do you have?
ihookem
ArboristSite Operative
Nomak, you are as lucky as I am. My house caught on fire on christmas morning in the middle of the night. I am quite sure it was the fan wire over heated but the insurance co. said it didn't have the clearance. I burned every day for 4 years so I don't think it was clearance cause I built it to code. We ended up tearing down the 4 year old house and rebuilt it . My wife does not ever want a fire place again. We went with gas just for looks. I went with an Eko 25 and all the bugs,dirt and bark is outside. I kind of miss the fireplace though. You might want to go OWB, not that I care. It is the most miserable feeling I ever had coming into the house christmas morning to see the whole house black, smoked out and dead of any life or spirit. We all walked out fine and that counts more than anything. Good luck with the rebuild. Try to have a nice christmas too. I would post pics but can't figure it out.
dingeryote
Blueberry Baron
nomak,
http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/7100-Wood-Fireplace.aspx
Ours is heating 2500sq.ft+ without utilizing the remote runs.
18' Ceilings for half of that.
Load it with Red oak and cherry mixed, and it will roast you out at -20 and 30mph winds outside. 12 hour burns are common in the spring and fall, but it will eat some wood come winter.
Good on ya for rationalizing and getting back on the Horse.
Have you contacted the manufacturer yet?
They may want to do an investigation themselves, but wait until your insurance company shows thier hand.
If ya get up this way come mid to late July, stop in or holler.
I have a care package for your new neighbors.
Stay safe!
Dingeryote
RCR 3 EVER
ArboristSite Guru
Sounds like another case of installers not knowing what they are doing, gee that sounds familiar and all too common.
DangerTree
ArboristSite Operative
I'm sure the insurance co. will sue the installer for damages! It's the American way!
nomak
ArboristSite Operative
it was a regency I1200S model. I know it was not a masonary type. but it sounds awful lot like the heatilator thing u mention..I never heard it called that..had an attachable blower unit that snapped on the front at the bottom and plugged into the wall with a auto on and off or a manual on and off switch and airator bars inside the top of the insert.
and I was thinking about that when it was dark last night some pics would be nice to show so I will get some when I get home this evening before it gets dark and post them..
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nomak
ArboristSite Operative
never been to Michigan in my life but I do appreciate the invite as well as the care package offer..Im gonna get them a thank you card write a lil something well alot in it and a gift card of some kind with a healthy amount on it.. was only thing I can think to do since I dont know them well enough to know what they like to do or anything..
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