How To Tackle A Chimney Fire
A cozy, inviting glow from your fireplace is the best deterrent to the chill. You bring a favorite chair up to the fireplace and take a seat. You suddenly understand there is a serious problem. The flue starts to fill with flames. On the grate, debris sparkles and pours down. You have a chimney fire to deal with.
A chimney fire may not have as clear early warning indicators. A lack of air or fuel keeps the smoldering creosote inside the chimney from igniting into flames, despite the fact that it gets hot enough to do harm. A hazardous condition is produced as the procedure keeps happening over time. These are indications that there is a slow-moving fire inside your chimney.
There have been instances where the chimney’s top has erupted in flames and thick smoke. Typically, a roaring noise that gets louder as the fire gets hotter and reaches temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit is the first sign of a chimney fire. This type of fire can drive hot gases out of pre-existing breaches in the chimney mortar or lead to internal connector failure due to the volume of fire, smoke, and heat it produces. Large amounts of smoke, sparks, and flames can rise many feet over the chimney when observed from the outside.
However, even these can reach high temperatures, which can harm the chimney’s construction and other combustible areas of the house just as much as the more intense fires. In a nutshell, fireplaces and wood stoves are made to provide for safe, regulated flames, with the chimney serving as an outlet for combustion byproducts. These substances exit the fireplace and wood stove, and gradually rise up into the relatively cooler chimney, where condensation occurs. Creosote, a sticky substance, can form as the products cool and attach to the inner lining of the chimney walls.
Having a crusty or flaky consistency, creosote has a black or brown look. It can be bright and solidified or viscous, drippy, and sticky. Often, all kinds will appear in one chimney system. Regardless of the physical existence of the creosote, it is highly flammable. A chimney fire may begin if there has been a substantial accumulation of creosote. Even though any amount of creosote has the potential to burn, professional chimney sweeps become concerned when enough of it accumulates to support a protracted, intense, and destructive chimney fire.
In essence, chimneys are all made in a similar way. The by-products of the fire exit upwards through convection through the chimney flue. This is commonly known as the fire’s draft.
All chimney fire extinguishing techniques necessitate the use of an ABC dry chemical extinguishing agent. If the fire in the firebox is put out, you will significantly improve your ability to operate nearby regardless of the kind of extinguishment used.
The wood should be removed from the firebox, put in a metal salvage bucket, and then dumped outside the house. Once all of the hot ashes and wood have been removed from the firebox, keep doing this. Outside the house, empty the bucket, then damp down the area with a hose, a pressured water can, or a staged attack line. You don’t want the house or the wood to catch fire after you leave, so make sure the fires in the hot ashes and wood are out. Close the draft to cut down on the quantity of air feeding the fire in the flue once the fire in the firebox has been extinguished (often using a pressurized water extinguisher).
One of the best methods to lower the risk of a chimney fire is through routine maintenance. At least once a year, a licensed Local Chimney Cleaning Volcano expert should inspect and clean every chimney. Make more servicing calls if you frequently use the fireplace in the winter. By adhering to these rules, you can help to maintain the safety of the chimney.
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