House fires

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I had a guy from a fire protection business come to my house ( kid filled out a raffle at the fair) anyway he recommended a heat detecter, for people that burn wood . He said too many people take the batteries out of smoke alarms for going off too much. Works good in kitchens too. And also test your smoke alarms by lighting a match and blowing it out by the alarm to see if it works. Don't just press the button.
 
I had a guy from a fire protection business come to my house ( kid filled out a raffle at the fair) anyway he recommended a heat detecter, for people that burn wood . He said too many people take the batteries out of smoke alarms for going off too much. Works good in kitchens too. And also test your smoke alarms by lighting a match and blowing it out by the alarm to see if it works. Don't just press the button.
Re: heat detector, that is actually a great idea.

A friend of mine sold and installed security/fire systems for several years. He gave me a can of "canned smoke" they use for testing smoke detectors.
 
Not sure where you guys live but the fire departments around me and the one I work for give out tamper proof 10 year detectors for free if you need them. Call your local fire department to see if they have any kind of smoke alarm program


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Not sure where you guys live but the fire departments around me and the one I work for give out tamper proof 10 year detectors for free if you need them. Call your local fire department to see if they have any kind of smoke alarm program


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I have seen these at various fairs, expos, etc as well.

Our local PD gives out free gun locks, similar theory.
 
I use this product every day in my wood heater. It contains manganese nitrate in solution and is available at all fireplace and wood stove dealers, and sometimes even Lowes or Home Depot. It helps the creosote peel off the insides of the chimney, instead of the creosote being hard and tar like, it's more chunky and fluffy. Makes cleaning your chimney easier. All I know is it works for me. I set a chimney on fire once when I was a kid, stuffing newspapers in the chimney trying to get a draft started so there wouldn't be so much smoke coming out in the room when I lit the fireplace. It took off like a jet and fortunately we had a very airtight damper that I shut immediately and that choked it off. But while that was going on I had also lit the fire in the fireplace, I smoked the house up real bad and had to dump water on my fire. I was lucky. The stuff is Rutland Creosote Remover.


rutland-liquid-creosote-remover-1-quart-42.gif
 
I use this product every day in my wood heater. It contains manganese nitrate in solution and is available at all fireplace and wood stove dealers, and sometimes even Lowes or Home Depot. It helps the creosote peel off the insides of the chimney, instead of the creosote being hard and tar like, it's more chunky and fluffy. Makes cleaning your chimney easier. All I know is it works for me. I set a chimney on fire once when I was a kid, stuffing newspapers in the chimney trying to get a draft started so there wouldn't be so much smoke coming out in the room when I lit the fireplace. It took off like a jet and fortunately we had a very airtight damper that I shut immediately and that choked it off. But while that was going on I had also lit the fire in the fireplace, I smoked the house up real bad and had to dump water on my fire. I was lucky. The stuff is Rutland Creosote Remover.


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I've been using the dry powder version, throw a scoop in on hot coals. I have no idea how it works or how great it is, but inspecting a couple weeks ago chimney was pretty darn clean and no oily stuff, just some dryish powder on the bricks.
 
you will not smell carbon monoxide thus the "silent killer".
But if it it comes from a wood burner wouldn't it be in the smoke. I mean can carbon monoxide get out but not smoke? I can see not smelling anything from gas. Even car exhaust , you would smell the exhaust as well. Just wondering.
 
But if it it comes from a wood burner wouldn't it be in the smoke. I mean can carbon monoxide get out but not smoke? I can see not smelling anything from gas. Even car exhaust , you would smell the exhaust as well. Just wondering.
you are smelling smoke but not carbon monoxide. when a fuel is not completely burned the unburnt fuel is carbon monoxide. made a call several years ago to home with several teenagers at a sleepover, the parents came home and found 8 unresponsive,we packed out and made entry with a monitor and was reading 70ppm . transported them to hospital,they survived and a few days later said they never knew it happened. google carbon monoxide and dioxide
 
you are smelling smoke but not carbon monoxide. when a fuel is not completely burned the unburnt fuel is carbon monoxide. made a call several years ago to home with several teenagers at a sleepover, the parents came home and found 8 unresponsive,we packed out and made entry with a monitor and was reading 70ppm . transported them to hospital,they survived and a few days later said they never knew it happened. google carbon monoxide and dioxide
I know it's odorless, but if it's from a active woodburner , wouldn't the smoke be a indication the carbon monoxide is present. And if your not smelling a lot of smoke there shouldn't be much co? I left my alarm at my last house because my new house has no gas appliances, just the woodburner. Do I need one or will the smoke indicate a problem?
 
I know it's odorless, but if it's from a active woodburner , wouldn't the smoke be a indication the carbon monoxide is present. And if your not smelling a lot of smoke there shouldn't be much co? I left my alarm at my last house because my new house has no gas appliances, just the woodburner. Do I need one or will the smoke indicate a problem?
wood does emit co when it burns, I would get a co monitor. make sure it is mounted around plug height whereas smoke rises co is heavier than air
 
If you smell smoke in your house you are exposing you self to CO. It is contained in the smoke from the incomplete burning process of carbon containing material (the wood in the stove)


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Maybe I'm wrong but I always considered CO a greater risk from oil/gas burning appliances with ventilation issues. On a wood burner if CO is present then smoke probably is too.

Nonetheless I have a propane/co detector in my furnace room and a CO detector in every bedroom as well as 4 smoke detectors.
 
I have a three story tall chimney on the outside of the house, (built in to the side of the house) IF,, I let a fire burn down to coals with a thick bed of ash, 36 hours or so , the draft will reverse. This is the only time the CO detector has gone off in our home. We all freaked out and left the house until we knew what the cause/cure was.
 
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.

I've had many chimney fires. its a natural process in burning wood, unless you sweep the chimney regularly. it sounds like crackling inside the chimney. the problem is when your chimney is old and crumbles away.

the real solution is installing an owb. :innocent:
 
And Spokane, Wa (I think) racks up another one. Ashes dumped in metal can, set on wood box on balcony, fire. Just caught it on the evening news. I think they said it was an aparment complex in Spokane but it may have been in some neighboring town/city.

Harry K
 
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