House fires
- Thread starter djkost
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Most fires caused by burning wood are caused by chimney fires. Never had one, but they sound like a jet plane taking off and they get so hot that the chimney ignites the studs. It is deafening.
Well chimney fires are probably #1. Forgetting draft open and stove overheats, older stove fails, sparks out of stove onto combustible object, chimney pipe fails, object too close to stove starts on fire, sparks from chimney start outside objects on fire,......
Luckily no.
Luckily no.
I guess the chimney fire is the worst because putting it out is almost impossible once it really gets going, even if a fire department is handy. A small fire extinguisher is helpless. Unless you can choke it off from the bottom by starving the oxygen, it can easily ignite the rest of the house. The chimney stove pipe can get red hot and the sparks can fly 30 feet above the roof. Masonry chimneys can also throw the sparks and get hot enough to set the wall on fire.
Believe me, it's a mess.
I was a volunteer FF for 10 years in a small place that thad lots of wood stoves and chimmney fires.
We had a 3 gallon stainless pressurized fire extingusher with a fine mist nozzle on it, (add a little soap to the water as it breaks the surface tension of the water and becomes more effienct) we would spray that into the wood stove as close the chimmney
as we could get, worked best on fireplaces, the mist would turn to steam suck out a lot of the heat and put the chimmney fire out most times.
Saw a couple of houses got up from people lighting the stove and having some of the burning paper/sparks go onto the shake roof and light the roof on fire!!
Saw a 30 year old fireplace catch the floor on fire as the forms for the concrete were never removed !! Saw lots of chimmney fires that looked like a F18 on takeoff!!
People burning green wet wood!!
Saw lots of stuff, house fires are never nice especially when someone dies,,,
BBB
I am a fine one to speak here. I have all the settings for a disaster. Wood stove in a small house, and I actually think I have a small kitchen extinguisher in there... however I have NO smoke detectors! Pipe is installed reasonably well, and is double wall thru the roof.
Yes, the pipe is the first hazard of operating a stove, but all the other mentioned , over heat, etc can all play a factor.
A heavily creosoted up pipe probably the most dangerous situation. User preventable, just clean the thing!
chimney fires can be extinguished, my father kept one of these handy "just in case". Can't fault the reasoning.
http://www.chimfex.us/about-chimfexr.html
Yes, the pipe is the first hazard of operating a stove, but all the other mentioned , over heat, etc can all play a factor.
A heavily creosoted up pipe probably the most dangerous situation. User preventable, just clean the thing!
chimney fires can be extinguished, my father kept one of these handy "just in case". Can't fault the reasoning.
http://www.chimfex.us/about-chimfexr.html
Dalmatian90
Addicted to ArboristSite
A chimney, properly installed and in good condition, should protect the structure.
1) Compromised chimneys:
I have seen creosote flowing inside the house from cracks in the chimney, threatening to have the fire follow it out like burning tar.
The more chimney fires you have, because they beat the stuffing out of the chimney, the more likely you are to have a damaged chimney.
2) Bad installs:
When you have insufficient clearances inside walls, over many years of exposure to long periods of low heat a process called "pyrolysis" alters the wood into something that can ignite at temperatures barely high enough to boil water. These partition fires, especially in old buildings without much insulation or cross pieces in the studs, can escalate quickly as the fire zips through them without being detected since there is no (or little) smoke inside the house at first.
3) Clearances around the stove:
Stuff is too close (the wet clothes you were drying and forgot about)
Sparks fly out past a smaller-than-required hearthpad and land on combustibles.
If you really want to see a heating appliance start a fire, tip over a kerosene heater!
1) Compromised chimneys:
I have seen creosote flowing inside the house from cracks in the chimney, threatening to have the fire follow it out like burning tar.
The more chimney fires you have, because they beat the stuffing out of the chimney, the more likely you are to have a damaged chimney.
2) Bad installs:
When you have insufficient clearances inside walls, over many years of exposure to long periods of low heat a process called "pyrolysis" alters the wood into something that can ignite at temperatures barely high enough to boil water. These partition fires, especially in old buildings without much insulation or cross pieces in the studs, can escalate quickly as the fire zips through them without being detected since there is no (or little) smoke inside the house at first.
3) Clearances around the stove:
Stuff is too close (the wet clothes you were drying and forgot about)
Sparks fly out past a smaller-than-required hearthpad and land on combustibles.
If you really want to see a heating appliance start a fire, tip over a kerosene heater!
Please get at least one smoke detector they are $10!!
Never went to a house fire that had a death with a working smoke detector!!
Lost a family because they were on a shelf with no batteries.
We came across some stainless chimmney that the aspestos settled in and they would set things on fire.
Stainless chimmney can have the liner crystalize if it gets hot enough, touch it and it falls like broken car window glass.
Be safe out there.
BBB
mu2bdriver
ArboristSite Guru
Get a CO detector also. Had the CO alarm go off for the first time in almost 10 years and it woke me up. A lot of smoke was filling into the house. Not enough to set off the smoke detector.
Watch where you put the ash bucket too. I used to use a 20 gallon pail and after cleaning out my Hotblast I would set it in the middle of my driveway. One night a neighbour stopped in and asked what I was burning on my driveway. 3 days after I set it out the wind hit it right and blew the top ashes off and the rest of the coals started burning. Glad I set it far enough away from the shop.
Snowchaser
ArboristSite Operative
My dad plumbed in a spray nozzle in the top of the chimney. The upstairs bathroom has a little door with a ball valve inside. Open it up and the chimney gets a bath. Never had to use it. Think its a great idea though
http://txktoday.com/news/house-fire-claims-life-of-woman-on-eylau-loop-rd/
my back is to camera .the last 24 days we have had 8 house fires!
my back is to camera .the last 24 days we have had 8 house fires!
seen them get so hot they melted mortar into glass
we bag up CO powder in 2 gallon Ziploc bags and close damper and drop down chimney
I had a co detector go off at about 2am. No smoke, no fumes, nothing. I vented the house thoroughly. Never went off again.
I had low battery set off my CO detector once. Freaked me out big time. As above, vented house and when alarm was still chirping replaced battery and solved problem. Smoke detectors save lives.
A lot of what we have run this year and most of the time is carelessness. Either people do not have the chimney inspected prior to use or just refuse to clean it. Have also had two fire places with separated block allow fire behind the chimney.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
TimberWolf530
ArboristSite Guru
Dude, it's not worth the risk. PM me your address, and I'll mail you a smoke detector. You should have a CO detector too.
