had a fire last night----OWB

[showrguy]

hi all, i've been burning my OWB for 7 yrs. now without issue...
when i went to check it this morning i got i big surprise...
all the leaves around the stove were burnt up, about 12 feet up the hill and about 40 feet back behind the stove, also burnt around an outside 150 gal. diesel tank, a plastic kero can which was empty but now has a hole melted through it (glad it was'nt a gas can for splitter)..
backhoe was also close by........
it musta happened overnight, it was windy and very dry here in central Pa.
musta got a spark and the wind took it from there..never knew it..
i"m very lucky it did'nt catch the entire mountain on fire, as well as the 2 logging trucks of oak stacked beside the OWB waiting to be cut and split...
moral of the story...............keep leaves away from your OWB

 

[valekbrothers]

Very lucky this time.......
That could have gotten ugly in a hurry.........
Glad you are safe.

 

[deer slayer]

Glad to here it didn't take off on you. I'm in the chambersburg area, many brush fires lately. A couple consumed a garage or two by local paper. Just yesterday they had three the largest being 40+/- acres. I've slowed down on my waste burning for the time being, calling for a chance of rain next couple of days. We need it!!!

 

[LANNY]

Glad to hear you are ok. We all know we need to keep that area clear, I work at it but the danged leaves can blow back in after an hour. Don't beat yourself up. Anyway it's clear now...Lanny

 

[showrguy]

Glad to hear you are ok. We all know we need to keep that area clear, I work at it but the danged leaves can blow back in after an hour. Don't beat yourself up. Anyway it's clear now...Lanny

thanks all,
no i'm not beating myself up, just wanted to pass the word..
really don't know why it burned out ?? glad it did though..
it would never have set my house ablaze, i have fibre cement siding and mountain stone on the outside...
after 7 yrs you would think you've seen it all ?? guess not ??

lol, can't beleive nobody asked for pictures (thanks, cuz i'm not good at that)

 

[November Wolf]

thanks all,
no i'm not beating myself up, just wanted to pass the word..
really don't know why it burned out ?? glad it did though..
it would never have set my house ablaze, i have fibre cement siding and mountain stone on the outside...
after 7 yrs you would think you've seen it all ?? guess not ??

lol, can't beleive nobody asked for pictures (thanks, cuz i'm not good at that)

Alright let's see some pictures.

 

[HillRat]

Wow, I guess those guys at the NWS weren't kidding...

"...JIM THORPE...STROUDSBURG...READING...ALLENTOWN...BETHLEHEM...WEST CHESTER...
NORRISTOWN...DOYLESTOWN...MEDIA...PHILADELPHIA
507 AM EDT TUE MAR 24 2009

INCREASED FIRE DANGER THREAT TODAY

FOR THE SECOND DAY IN A ROW, THE AIRMASS OVER OUR AREA WILL BE
EXTREMELY DRY. RELATIVE HUMIDITIES THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE IN
THE TEENS TO LOW 20S. THE LACK OF PRECIPITATION HAS ALLOWED
FUEL MOISTURE TO DROP TO DANGEROUSLY LOW LEVELS. FORTUNATELY,
WIND SPEEDS WILL BE LOWER TODAY THAN THEY WERE YESTERDAY. FOR
THIS REASON, WE WILL NOT BE ISSUING A RED FLAG WARNING TODAY.
HOWEVER, THERE WILL STILL BE A HEIGHTENED CONCERN FOR WILDFIRES.
NORTHERLY WINDS WILL AVERAGE 10 TO 15 MPH THIS MORNING AND THERE
COULD BE A FEW GUSTS TO NEAR 20 MPH. WIND SPEEDS THIS AFTERNOON
WILL AVERAGE AROUND 10 MPH.

MOISTURE LEVELS WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE ON WEDNESDAY AS WINDS
BECOME ONSHORE. WE COULD SEE SOME LIGHT RAIN AS EARLY AS LATE
WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR THURSDAY. A MORE WIDESPREAD HEAVIER RAIN IS
POSSIBLE LATE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. AN YET ANOTHER ROUND
OF RAIN MAY AFFECT OUR AREA LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY.

Very glad to hear no one was hurt and no serious damage done.

 

[showrguy]

Alright let's see some pictures

ok, i went and took some-------i am luckier than i originally thought, it actaully had the skid that my big tank and old backhoe batteries are on, on fire..
my pictures are too large and i can't figure out how to make them smaller, will have to wait for the wife to do that.......i'm a bit illiterate with some of this computer stuff

 

[Zodiac45]

Micro soft has a free resize tool in Power toys (I think it's called?) Once you downwload it, you then can just right click on any picture and resize too whatever you want.

 

[tballard]

sorry if this is a stupid question... I don't have an OWB, yet. I'm looking at an e-classic install this summer. I thought these things had a fully insulated housing? I mean, you see pictures of snow sitting on top of the unit while it's firing. So, how do leaves around the unit catch on fire? I'm a little concerned because of the area that I intend to put the e-classic is at the edge of my lawn and woods. There are lots of leaves, etc..

 

[AKDoug]

If you don't run the additional stack that most manufacturers recommend it is easy to get sparks from the chimney to blow down and catch stuff on fire. My Woodmaster recommends extending the chimney pipe as high as the eave on the nearest building. No way am I going up 20' so I just take my chances.

 

[troy3300]

If the fire gets hot enough I have had small pieces of burning cresote shoot out of the chimney. Beware if you ever try to burn pallet pieces they burn HOT. It will clean out some cresote though.
I just extened my chimney on my wood master for just under $50 and added 8 feet on. I feel better now. Besides they have a new ordinace here that the top of the stack has to be at least 15 ft off the ground.

 

[John D]

I posted in the shaver improvement thread,I had 2 fires as well.One sunday morning,and another monday morning. I wasnt home either time, the gF notice it and put them out, I dont have any leaves around the OWB,or trees,it was the stacked wood that caught fire!Both pieces were dry ,and by the time she got to them required more than one bucket of water to extinguish.

 

[A. Stanton]

Interesting post. I wonder if a snow drift fence would keep the leaves at bay.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

That issue has been a concern of mine from the get-go, but have been lucky here so far...we're down on precip about 6", not much snow this winter eiether....it's drier than a popcorn fart.

 

[John D]

Leaves arent an issue with me,it was catching my wood pile on fire! I can imagine the heat from 3-4 cord of dry locust and oak burning,and the owb itself would be a mess,the house is about 60 ft from it,if the wind was right I can imagine it could do damage to the house as well.

 

[never2muchwood]

Here's a question that pertains to this guys--I don't have an OWB, but am looking into it, and If I put one in it would be fairly close to the house, maybe 25 ft away, I figured I'd install a spark arrestor cap. Are those foolproof or would there still be concerns with one of those on top your chimney?

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Here's a question that pertains to this guys--I don't have an OWB, but am looking into it, and If I put one in it would be fairly close to the house, maybe 25 ft away, I figured I'd install a spark arrestor cap. Are those foolproof or would there still be concerns with one of those on top your chimney?

I don't have one...others have tried them with mixed success..can affect draft, or get clooged with creosote...I don't have many sparks unless I leave the door open, or damper door sticks open.
Once in awhile, I like to get a REAL fire going, and watch the orange flame come out of the stack...like watching a redneck version of a space shuttle launch...

 

[John D]

heres a shot of my homemade cap.Total cost $14.oo at the local do it best hardware store.

 

[Circle B MN]

Mine is 35 feet or better from the house. Not sure I would get any closer. I do have a spark arrestor on mine and it seems to work well without any negative effect. I installed mine as I have a grass fiel behind the house. One spark in the winter wood get really interesting. I can see the OWB while laying in bed at night and can honestly say I have never seen a spark from the stack. Perhaps the deep baffle design of the CB5036 has something to do with it...?