4 facts that you really don't want to verify personally

[frobzwiththingz]

1) Chimney fires are LOUD.

2) They *dont* always self-extinguish when you shut the stove inlets down all the way; the updraft they create can be strong enough to pull in enough air to self-sustain through the pipe baffling. Eit.

3) 2 20' lengths of garden hose is just *barely* enough to get a hose close enough to soak the area of the roof around the chimney outlet.

4) Westford's fire dept' response time is under 3 minutes to our house. [with two ladder trucks, one supervisor truck, one police car. maybe more.] Fire was still going, but at least was no longer looking like i was running a blast furnace inside.

Tomorrow's job: Go up on the roof and clean the chimney.

Edit: to clarify, everything is OK, no damage, thank Ghu. all that is needed is to clean out the chimney tomorrow.

Comments

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

Eeek! I assume you guys and your house are all okay?

[gosling.livejournal.com]

eep. Is your house ok?

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

aiee! glad you and your property survived.

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

let me echo everyone else here: i'm glad to infer that you and your property survived intact! sounds very exciting...

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

"adventure" is one of those things that is great to reminisce about, but not necessarily great to be part of at the time...

[maighread.livejournal.com]

oh. oh dear.

I'm thinking unsinged roof thoughts your direction...

[rmd.livejournal.com]

1. ut oh.

2. UT OH.

3. yay!

4. YAY!

well, that sucks, but i'm glad it didn't suck much much worse.

[armandae.livejournal.com]

nyeek!

what were you cooking?

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

not cooking; woodstove. Trigger fuel was a deWalt angle grinder box.

[hillybiker.livejournal.com]

Yikes!!! Hope all is well or at least easy/cheap to fix and no damage to people or kitties.

Best wishes

[jim-p.livejournal.com]

Yipe! I'm sure glad you and the house are okay (*hugs to you both*) [skritches for the cat]

Yes, chimney fires are loud. I've never experienced one myself, but I've been told that it's rather like a freight train passing at close range.

That's why I keep one of those chimney-fire-extinguisher flares near any woodburning appliance, Just In Case.

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

I have, but fortunately I've never used, one of those flare-like things. My guess it's some sort of nasty chemical that interfers with the flames.

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

Yup, time for me to get a basket full of those chimney bombs, and station them by the stove.

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

Those things sound really good to have by the woodstove. Do you know where to get them?

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

I saw them at the little woodstove shop in Littleton, at rte 119 & 495- I'll pick you up a couple when i go.

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

Do you remember where you purchased those "chimney-fire-extinguisher flares"? I'm thinking we should get one or two.

[(Anonymous)]

You can get them anyplace that sells fireplace and woodstove accessories. Home Depot has probably started carrying them now (it's a seasonal item for them). Any stove-and-fireplace shop should have them too.

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

eek!

I'm so glad that everyone and everything is reasonably ok!

[scliff.livejournal.com]

Just saw a show this weekend where a bunch of chimney sweeps demonstrated why their work is necessary in a stand-alone demo flue (kind of like a fire department practice building, but much smaller). The point where gases ignited and the chimney because a giant candle was quite impressive. Hope yours didn't reach that point.

I also hope you didn't have the problem of the chimney flue tiles cracking/shattering from the heat.

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

The point where gases ignited and the chimney became a giant candle was quite impressive.

Oh, it is quite impressive, i assure you. Anything which causes *me* to think "it's time to call in the professionals" is generally impressive. Had i had enough time, in between hose-soaking the roof, calling 911, checking the attic for any signs of fire leakage through the chimney structure, and the fire dept arriving, i would have shot some video. "This is a bona-fide chimney fire. Hear that? You don't want to ever hear that. Note the large plume of flame shooting out of your house. Neat, eh? Clean your chimney every season."

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

you are not allowed to bring burning man HOME :>

glad it was exciting, and not disastrous!

#

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

Very happy to hear your house didn't burn down.

[marmota.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear health and home, if not necessarily hearth, are all well. Thanks for being a safety example without being, well, too much of a safety example!

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear nobody got hurt and that the house is OK.

[coraline]

i'd rather have a LOUD fire than a quiet one i might fail to notice.


glad everything's ok!

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

can't disagree there. Hearing a freight train in your wall is a sure sign that "somthin' ain't right."

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

Glad that hearth and home are okay!

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

oh, my! You may want to consider getting a professional chimmney sweep (or more appropriate similar professional) to examine your chimney to see if there's been any non-obvious damage to the chimney so your house doesn't inadvertantly burn down. Fires can cause damage that you might not notice, or might say "oh, just another singe mark" and it's actually something quite serious. Professionals can do this much better than the home-fixer-upper person, no matterhow good you are.

I'm glad you survived. Wow!