Wish I'd listened sooner: My first big flue fire scare

Old timer named Jerry at the Buck stove shop told me to always check for creosote buildup after every 50 burns, but I thought I knew better. After a few months of slacking off, I had a small flue fire on a job in Dover last Tuesday that could've been real bad. Smoke was pouring out the damper and I had to use my fire extinguisher, which made a huge mess. Anyone else ever ignore a simple safety rule and pay for it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_alice8d ago

Man, creosote buildup is no joke! I ignored the same advice from my dad who used to sell wood stoves, and ended up with a scary flare-up one cold winter night. Had to yank all the logs out with a fireplace shovel while my wife screamed from the doorway. The mess was unreal, black soot everywhere and the smell stuck for weeks. Now I clean after every cord of wood no exceptions, lesson learned hard.

linda_dixon493d ago

After every half cord? That's almost obsessive, but I guess your house didn't burn down.

parker_palmer448d ago

Oh man, your story gave me flashbacks to my own creosote nightmare. That flare-up must have been terrifying with your wife screaming and all those logs to yank out. The soot and smell thing is what really stuck with me, that black dust gets into everything. I had a similar wakeup call when I saw the buildup in my chimney after just one season of burning mostly green wood. Now I'm religious about it too, I even set a reminder on my phone to check after every half cord just to be safe. You can't mess around with that stuff, it turns into a rocket engine inside your walls faster than you'd think.