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Your chimney–and the flue that lines it–adds architectural interest to your home, but its’ real function is to carry dangerous flue gases from your fireplace, wood stove, or furnace safely out of your home.
Thinking about the condition of your chimney. Why?
Dirty chimneys can cause chimney fires, which damage structures, destroy homes, and injure or kill people. Indications of a chimney fire have been described as creating:
loud cracking and popping noise
a lot of dense smoke, and
an intense, hot smell
The Majority of Chimney Fires Go Undetected: Slow-burning chimney fires don’t get enough air or have fuel to be dramatic or visible and they often go undetected until a later chimney inspection, but, the temperatures they reach are very high and can cause as much damage to the chimney structure – and nearby combustible parts of the house.
Creosote & Chimney Fires: What You Must Know: The chimneys that serve chimneys have the job of expelling the by-products of combustion – the substances produced when wood burns. These include smoke, water vapor, gases, unburned wood particles, hydrocarbon, tar fog, and assorted minerals. As these substances exit the fireplace and flow up into the relatively cooler chimney, condensation occurs. The resulting residue that sticks to the inner walls of the chimney is called creosote. Creosote is a black or brown residue that can be crusty and flaky…tar-like, drippy and sticky…or shiny and hardened. All forms are highly combustible. If it builds up in sufficient quantities – and the internal flue temperature is high enough – the result could be a chimney fire. Air supply may be restricted by closing the glass doors, by failing to open the damper wide enough, and the lack of sufficient make-up air to move heated smoke up the chimney rapidly (the longer the smoke’s “residence time” in the flue, the more likely is it that creosote will form). A wood stove’s air supply can be limited by closing down the stove damper or air inlets too soon or too much. Burning unseasoned wood – because so much energy is used initially just to drive off the water trapped in the cells of the logs– keeps the resulting smoke cooler, than if seasoned wood is used. In the case of wood stoves, overloading the firebox with wood in an attempt to get a longer burn time also contributes to creosote buildup.
Masonry Chimneys: When a chimney fire occurs in a masonry chimney – whether the flue is an older, unlined type or tile-lined to meet current safety codes – the high temperatures at which they burn (around 2000°F) can “melt mortar, crack tiles, cause liners to collapse and damage the outer masonry material”. Most often, thermal shock occurs and tiles crack, and mortar is displaced, which provides a pathway for flames to reach the combustible wood frame of the house. This event is extremely dangerous, call 911 immediately.
Prefabricated, factory-built, metal chimneys: To be installed in most jurisdictions in the United States, factory-built, metal chimneys that are designed to vent wood burning stoves or prefabricated metal fireplaces must pass special tests. Most tests require the chimney to withstand flue temperatures up to 2100°F – without sustaining damage. Under chimney fire conditions, damage to these systems still may occur. When prefabricated, factory-built metal chimneys are damaged by a chimney fire, they should no longer be used and must be replaced.
Special Effects on Wood Stoves: Wood stoves are made to contain hot fires. The connector pipes that run from the stove to the chimney are another matter. They cannot withstand the high temperatures produced during a chimney fire and can warp, buckle, and even separate from the vibrations created by air turbulence during a fire. If damaged by a chimney fire, they must be replaced.
If you think a chimney fire has occurred, call us for a professional evaluation. If your suspicions are confirmed, a certified sweep will be able to make recommendations about how to bring the system back into compliance with safety standards. Depending on the situation, you might need a few flue tiles replaced, a new liner system installed or an entire chimney rebuilt. Each situation is unique and will dictate its own solution.
Clean chimneys don’t catch fire. We make sure to inspect your solid fuel venting system annually and sweep and repair it whenever needed. Your sweep may have other maintenance recommendations depending on how you use your fireplace or stove. We recommend getting in touch with our technicians and engineers since they are regularly tested on their understanding of the complexities of chimney and venting systems.