The Rohrbaugh Forum

Miscellaneous => The Water Cooler -- General Discussions => Topic started by: Richard S on February 28, 2012, 06:54:43 PM

Title: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: Richard S on February 28, 2012, 06:54:43 PM: Last Sunday morning dawned cold and damp at Critter Creek, so I went through my usual routine of laying a fire in the large fireplace, reminding myself to throw in one of the commercial "chimney sweeping logs" it has been my practice to burn in the fireplace each week ever since the only local chimney sweeping company went out of business two years ago. The fire was only four logs, no bigger than usual in the cabin's large fireplace. I then went about the process of preparing breakfast for my lady.

Suddenly I became aware of a low roaring sound from the fireplace, a certain sign of a chimney fire.
Alerting Joyce to the situation, we called the local volunteer fire company, emptied two Class A CO₂ fire extinghishers on the fire and up the flue, and closed the wrought-iron doors to the fireplace. I ran outside to retrieve the extension ladder from under the cabin, extended and raised the ladder at the corner of the chimney, turned on the water, and scrambled up the ladder with the hose as fast as a hungry monkey climbing up a mango tree. Flames were coming out of both sides of the chimney cap, which fortunately was a good three feet above any portion of the cabin. The cabin has a tin roof, but it was good to see that the cap was retaining the blaze.

Being mindful that too much water poured down a chimney fire can crack the lining of the chimney, I put the hose on a spray large enough to cover the three foot chimney and began the process of fire suppression.

By the time the fire department arrived, the fire had been knocked down and there was little more to do other than to ensure that it was indeed out. There was virtually no water in the bottom of the fireplace, indicating that nearly all of it had been turned into steam in the process of extinguishing the fire. An infra-red heat detection device brought by the fire truck showed the hottest spot was by then only 60 degrees. We were lucky.

I have now concluded that these commercially sold creosote"cleaning" products are of little use and in no way substitute for an annual mechanical cleaning of a chimney. In fact, by loosening the creosote, it appears that the cleaning logs can sometimes even promote a chimney fire -- or so says the Washington State Public Fire Educators Association:

_{Chimney Sweeping Logs:
The use of chimney sweeping logs (and similar products) alone is not an adequate substitute for mechanical chimney cleaning and inspection because it does not provide for the same level of protection to the chimney system.
Vital Points:
Each time you burn wood in your fireplace or woodstove, tar and creosote are formed and over time, will build up on the inside of your chimney. This build-up is highly flammable and can ignite causing a chimney fire. To prevent chimney fires, the fire service has long recommended having your chimney cleaned and inspected annually by a licensed professional. But now, a new product called the “Chimney Sweeping Log” has many citizens wondering whether an annual mechanical cleaning remains necessary.
The manufacturer of the Chimney Sweeping Log claims that the product contains “specially developed minerals” that act to reduce deposits of tar and creosote thus reducing the risk of chimney fires. To use the product, you simply place the log in your fireplace or woodstove and allow it burn for roughly an hour and a half. The product’s website boasts that “the burning of a single Chimney Sweeping Log can reduce build-up by up to 60%”.
Washington Public Fire Educators (WPFE) is concerned about these claims. While we won’t dispute what these fire logs will do, we feel that it’s vital to address what they won’t do. If these logs manage to loosen creosote so it flakes off the flue walls as the advertisements claim, where does that creosote go? It either catches fire as it flakes off and increases the potential for a chimney fire through the intense burning, or it falls to the bottom and collects on the smoke shelf, thus causing a future hazard.
WPFE believes that the safest and most effective chimney maintenance is achieved through annual inspections and mechanical sweeping. * * *}
http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/hocslog.htm

I have now located a well-recommended chimney sweeping company some distance away and made an appointment for next Saturday.

The purpose of all of this is just to advise any of you who have and use fireplaces in your residences to have them mechanically inspected and cleaned each year. And, please, support your local volunteer fire department!
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: kjtrains on February 28, 2012, 07:06:50 PM: Great info, RS. Thanks! Certainly glad all is OK.
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: thor447 on February 28, 2012, 07:17:33 PM: Quote from: kjtrains on February 28, 2012, 07:06:50 PM
Great info, RS. Thanks! Certainly glad all is OK.

+1 Glad everything is OK
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: yankee2500 on February 28, 2012, 08:01:45 PM: Richard, Glad you and Joyce are OK, sounds like an exciting morning. ;D G
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: DDGator on February 28, 2012, 10:52:42 PM: Nice job, Richard. Good advice.
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: CaptBW on February 29, 2012, 06:57:26 AM: Richard,

I am glad this story has a happy ending.
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: backupr9 on February 29, 2012, 09:32:47 AM: Well done Richard! Quick being prepared and thinking quickly seems to work in most any situation...and thanks for the info. John
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: backupr9 on February 29, 2012, 09:34:17 AM: Whoops! Haven't been drinking this early. Edited and transposed...should have been "being prepared and quick thinking"...
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: Richard S on February 29, 2012, 11:02:18 AM: Thank you, gentlemen!

I posted that bit of drama with the thought that some others might be able to profit from my experience. I had allowed myself to be lulled into a false sense of security by using those creosote "cleaning" logs without exercising the due diligence of learning more about them than what was printed on the labels and by failing to expand farther afield my search for a new chimney cleaning company.

Here is a photograph of Critter Creek Cabin showing the chimney in question. I leave it to you to picture me on a ladder up there at the top with my water hose, shrouded in smoke and steam, and getting my eyebrows singed. ???

(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/RichardS/crittercreekcabinnorthside.jpg)
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: theirishguard on February 29, 2012, 12:40:37 PM: Richard, good show and all that speed with no breakfast!! ;) I'm am sure glad herself was not injured ;D Tom
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: Richard S on February 29, 2012, 12:53:14 PM: Quote from: theirishguard on February 29, 2012, 12:40:37 PM
Richard, good show and all that speed with no breakfast!! ;) I'm am sure glad herself was not injured ;D Tom

Tom:

Thank God, not a hair on her lovely head was disturbed! She is my raison d'être.

(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/RichardS/jmwonvacation.jpg)
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: Robar233 on February 29, 2012, 08:05:02 PM: Richard,

Thank God you all are just fine. Good reactions and quick thinking on your part!

Robar233
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: Z on March 01, 2012, 04:41:38 PM: Richard

I am glad to hear it worked out in the end. Your actions stopped the fire from becomming a blaze!
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: wildmanwill on March 01, 2012, 09:05:43 PM: As a FF/EMT I see my fair share of chimney fires every season. Glad to see that you made out ok and also that you had the sense to take it easy on applying the water, knowing that it could crack the lining. Glad to read that your liner was ok - we don't advocate putting water down a chimney at any point in the extinguishment process...but yet we see someone doing it occasionally, or at least setting up to do it, upon our arrival.
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: Richard S on March 01, 2012, 09:36:14 PM: Will:

You slipped in under my radar, so permit me here to welcome you to the Forum and to thank you for your service as one of our country's first responders.

I know what you mean about water and chimney fires, but Critter Creek is what might be called (here in East Tennessee), "A far piece up the holler." Due to the terrain, field expediency appeared to be in order.

From your training and experience as a FF/EMT, do you agree with the comments in that position paper of the Washington Public Fire Educators Association on creosote "cleaning" logs that I quoted? Reading it in my, so called, after-action research was a real wake-up call for me.

Joyce and I are back at the cabin now, and the newly identified and recruited chimney-cleaning crew is scheduled to arrive on Saturday morning.
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: wildmanwill on March 02, 2012, 01:40:32 PM: Richard, I tend to live under the radar, and prefer it that way, but thank you for the welcome.

I spent a few days, unplanned, in Eastern Tennessee, up in the Blountville area...so I think I sort of understand the terrain and lay of the land.

With regards to the chimney, I have found it best to clean it/have it cleaned with a brush. In my opinion, the best thing for wood stoves or fireplaces is to try to burn hot at least once a day and then back it down. As I'm sure you know, most problems come from slow burning as then you get a build up over time.
Title: Re: Chimney Fire at Critter Creek
Post by: Richard S on March 03, 2012, 03:10:52 PM: Update: The chimney at Critter Creek was professionally cleaned this morning by brush and vacuum, the chimney lining was inspected by camera, and a new chimney cap is now in place. The inspection of the lining showed no cracks, so my unorthodox "field expedient" of using a water spray down the chimney had, luckily, not caused any damage. The owner of the company, whose "day job" is as a member of one of the East Tennessee fire departments, indicated that emptying a Class A CO₂ extinguisher up the flue and closing the doors to the fireplace had operated to limit oxygen to the fire from the bottom, allowing the fine spray of water from the top to knock down the rest of the fire. (The spray accounted for the billows of steam in which I was shrouded up there on that ladder. ;D ) He confirmed what I had previously read and what Will noted above -- that using water in a chimney fire is not an approved school solution. Still and all, given the remoteness of Critter Creek, he noted, "Better to repair a chimney than to rebuild a cabin."

The importance of proper chimney caps also cannot be overstated. They not only prevent burning embers from landing on your roof when fireplaces are in use but also prevent birds and other critters from "moving in without paying rent" during warm weather seasons.

Permit me to close with these words: "Support your local fire fighters, and have your chimneys professionally inspected and cleaned each year."