How To Avoid Chimney Fire Damage

Whether you own an open fireplace or a combustion heater the common factor is the chimney that draws smoke up from the fire and out of the house. But a chimney is not a set and forget proposition, they get dirty and they can become clogged if they are not occasionally cleaned. The potential if the necessary maintenance is not carried out is for a chimney fire with all kinds of resultant damage that is associated with it.

A chimney fire is an awesome event and can be incredibly destructive. The fire can burn explosively producing a great deal of black smoke and heat and all of it directed inside a small area. It doesn’t take very long for a chimney fire to spread from the chimney to more combustible parts of the house such as the roof.

The purpose of a chimney is to draw poisonous gases and smoke away from the living area and out into the air. When these gases and other particles leave the fire they are very hot and travel quickly up the chimney but as they near the top of the chimney they cool and condensation occurs. Substances such as unburned wood particles, gases, vapour, tar fog and hydrocarbons all form part of this condensation to form a sticky substance known as creosote. This creosote sticks to the inside of the chimney as a hardened surface that may be sticky, shiny, crusty or flaky.

The problem lies in the fact that the creosote that is now lining the inner walls of your chimney is highly combustible. If it is allowed to build up into sufficient quantities there is the real risk that it could catch fire inside the chimney causing a chimney fire.

The creation of creosote is accelerated in certain conditions such as burning unseasoned wood, restricting the air flow to the fire and a cooler than normal chimney temperature. Each of these circumstances result in the wood burning at a lower temperature than normal where there is not as much fine particulate burn. Those particles are actually being emitted into the chimney.

So how can you prevent chimney fire damage? You can start by burning the right type of wood and ensuring it is properly dried before adding it to the fire. Even more important is to get your chimney swept and the chimney venting system is inspected annually. You can find a Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) certified chimney sweep who will come and check your chimney for you. There may be some additional recommendations apart from simply having the chimney swept.

You don’t want a chimney fire and you can prevent them by burning smaller fires that burn quickly and hot. You want to create fires that don’t produce very much smoke. You shouldn’t ever burn cardboard boxes, wrapping paper or trash. Monitor the heat of the chimney, possibly installing a thermometer to track the flue temperature.

How To Put Out A Chimney Fire

An important item to keep in any household but particularly a house where an open place fire or a wood burning stove are in use is a fire extinguisher. The fire extinguisher should be in close proximity to the fireplace in the desperate case that a fire has broken out. In many cases though a chimney fire will be inside the chimney itself where a fire extinguisher will not be able to reach.

Products exist specifically to extinguish a chimney fire and they work by throwing them into the fire where the resultant burning chemicals rise up the flue to replace the oxygen, removing all of the oxygen from inside the chimney, thus smothering the fire. If you are faced with a chimney fire the first consideration should be the safety of you and your family. If there is time to use a chimney fire suppressant then throw it into the firebox before vacating the house and calling the fire department

It is little comfort that chimney fire repair and the damage and restoration work necessary to recover are covered by the homeowners insurance.