Chimney Chains

[Leeland]

We still have them, though it has been a while since I have used one. With the way the weather is going here, I'm sure we will be running a few chimney fires pretty soon.

[hwoods]

And...........

My late Father and a couple of other guys made their own "Chimney" nozzle many years ago. Dad brazed a Female Booster hose coupling to a 2 ft. long piece of 1 inch pipe. A cap was put on the other end, and some very small holes were drilled in the pipe. When charged to 150 psi, you'd get a number of pinpoint streams around the pipe. This would create some steam and also "Cut" the creosote in the Flue liner so it would fall into the Firebox......... They made the first one in the 1940s, and a couple more later on. The darned things worked good too.........

[JT_Fire_2000]

Chimney fires are a pain. The dry chem bombs seem to be successfull about half the time. I've actually seen some success with a dry chem extinguisher UP the chimney immediately followed by a CO2. Wasn't a bad fire, but seemed to be effective. We do not use chimney chains at all.

[Dickey]

We have an 8" section of old rail road track attached to a chain. Yes, it's home made. When I first started we had chimney fires almost once a week in the winter time but over the last 20 years, burning wood became less popular. Now, with rising fuel costs, they are coming back. We haven't had any in several years but our neighbors are beginning to see an increase in chimney fires.

First we go to the furnace and put the fire out using dry chem and usually that takes care of the chimney. If that doesn't work, then we used to use chimney bombs of baking soda. As a last resort, we would drop the chain down.

I bet we haven't dropped a chain in over 10 years. Heck, we don't even have the bombs pre-made anymore.

[snowball]

We've always had success throwing a pitcher of water on the fire, then as soon as white smoke is seen, cover the flue. I should mention that the fireplace has some way to close up the front.

We don't get that many.

[Chief_Roy]

Nothing like 10 foot flame length from the top of a chimney....

In this order, generally is what we will use.

Chimnex flare (never seems to work on its own)

Chain

Dry Chem up the flue with PPV going

A little bit of "Cold Fire"... google it, nice stuff.


A neighboring department has this special nozzle "Snuffer Kit" they drop down the chimney that puts out a very fine spray. I'm dubious...

Yeah, we had the snuffer too. I thought it worked good, but we tried to avoid using it because of the fear of cracking the mortar. 9 times out of 10 the old chimney bombs seemed to work just fine.

I like the dry chem up the flu idea, never tried that on the job. I did, however, have a chimney fire at my own house years ago. I would have rather eaten glass than to call the guys at the station, so I climbed up on the roof and dumped a dry chem down the chimney. Not a good idea. Put the fire out, but fogged the house up with so much yellow powder that we were tasting it for weeks. Yeah, I know, close the damper right?

[ChiefKN]

Nothing like 10 foot flame length from the top of a chimney....

In this order, generally is what we will use.

Chimnex flare (never seems to work on its own)

Chain

Dry Chem up the flue with PPV going

A little bit of "Cold Fire"... google it, nice stuff.


A neighboring department has this special nozzle "Snuffer Kit" they drop down the chimney that puts out a very fine spray. I'm dubious...

[Chief_Roy]

Last August, during the peak of fire season, I was taking time to train a newbie on pump op's. We had driven to a vacant lot where we could flow some water. I noticed smoke from a nearby house. This house had a lot of debris and tall dry grass all around it. A roman candle waiting for a match. Knowing it was a no-burn day and seeing more smoke than a bbq would produce, I investigated.

Turns out the homeowner was clipping the tall grass with pruning shears and burning it in the fireplace.

Only in Humboldt County

That just makes me chuckle, and it's certainly not just in Humboldt County. I could write a book about the crap people try to burn in fireplaces and wood stoves. I imagine a lot of us could. I've seen people burning garbage in their stoves, asphalt shingles, pieces of retread tires. The calls always come in the same way. "My neighbor's chimney has thick black smoke coming out and it smells terrible." I need to make up a Darwin Award on my computer that I can place in the structure fire packet in the engines to hand out to people.

[hwoods]

Yep.........

Last August, during the peak of fire season, I was taking time to train a newbie on pump op's. We had driven to a vacant lot where we could flow some water. I noticed smoke from a nearby house. This house had a lot of debris and tall dry grass all around it. A roman candle waiting for a match. Knowing it was a no-burn day and seeing more smoke than a bbq would produce, I investigated.

Turns out the homeowner was clipping the tall grass with pruning shears and burning it in the fireplace.

Only in Humboldt County

Some of your neighbors must have moved East. Our Burning Laws are so tight that people do stupid Pet Tricks here too. Several times we've been called for a "Smoke in the area" or "Illegal Burning" call to find people burning Leaves in a BBQ Grill............

Gotta give them a "C" in Creative Disposal Class though, they're quick to point out that the Law that allows outdoor BBQ Grills doesn't specify Fuel Types.......

[Blulakr]

Last August, during the peak of fire season, I was taking time to train a newbie on pump op's. We had driven to a vacant lot where we could flow some water. I noticed smoke from a nearby house. This house had a lot of debris and tall dry grass all around it. A roman candle waiting for a match. Knowing it was a no-burn day and seeing more smoke than a bbq would produce, I investigated.

Turns out the homeowner was clipping the tall grass with pruning shears and burning it in the fireplace.

Only in Humboldt County

[FIRE117]

The "Worst Chimney Fire" reminded me of this one: About 10-12 years ago, we get a call for "Smoke in the Area"...... Leaving the station, we see a large Black smoke column. Turning the corner onto the street where the call came from we see an old 2.4 floor single family home with heavy Fire blowing 20 feet straight up out of the Chimney. Homeowner said he was given some free firewood, which he promply showed us....... TELEPHONE POLES!!!......

While we are on the subject of what not to do with your wood stove, here is another example:

Some guys thought it was a "bright" idea to dispose of their Christmas tree in the fire place. They placed one end of the tree in the fireplace and of course, the whole dry tree immediately went up in an inferno. I do not know how they kept the place from burning down!

[hwoods]

And Again..........

The "Worst Chimney Fire" reminded me of this one: About 10-12 years ago, we get a call for "Smoke in the Area"...... Leaving the station, we see a large Black smoke column. Turning the corner onto the street where the call came from we see an old 2.4 floor single family home with heavy Fire blowing 20 feet straight up out of the Chimney. Homeowner said he was given some free firewood, which he promply showed us....... TELEPHONE POLES!!!......

[hwoods]

And............

When handling chains, use heavy welding gloves. They still can get pretty hot, so you have to take care.

Why settle for a small roof fire, just drop them over the side and set the yard, trash, car, HOSEBED on fire...

Give the guys on the ground something to do.

.....

[HAFD112]

Gotta love the old timers. Been doing for YEARS. Some do real well,some have ripping chimney fires and SOME don't realize that the fire is NO longer in the chimney until they see the wallpaper bubbling. BTDT. T.C.

Last summer we were called to an "old timers" place, he was burning a refrigerator in the front yard. He said it was too dirty to clean.

[Chief_Roy]

Gotta love the old timers. Been doing for YEARS. Some do real well,some have ripping chimney fires and SOME don't realize that the fire is NO longer in the chimney until they see the wallpaper bubbling. BTDT. T.C.

Totally a tangent, but that reminds me of the worst "chimney" fire I ever saw. Guy had bought this house and had lived in it for a couple of years. One cold winter day he finally decides to start a fire in the downstairs fireplace. Starts getting some smoke backing up in to the room so he stokes it up hotter as he figures he's not getting a good draft. 15 minutes later a neighbor alerts him to flames coming out of his roof. Long story short, the whole place burned to the ground. Turns out his second floor had been remodeled years prior and they removed the chimney between the second floor and roof. It basically just ended in the attic. Big oops.