If you hear loud popping, see flames or excess smoke from your chimney, or smell burning, you're likely facing a chimney fire. To tackle a chimney fire, use a dry chem extinguisher or Chimfex flares and reduce oxygen by closing the damper and any air intakes.
Never throw water on a flare-up in the grate or a fire in the chimney. The action can create a steam blast that blows back into the room and results in serious injuries. A chimney fire can spread very quickly, so always call 911.
Adequate Air Supply: Adjust the stove's air vents and consider slightly opening a window in the same room when starting the fire to introduce fresh air and help balance the pressure. Regular Chimney Maintenance: Ensure your chimney is clean and free from obstructions.
If you still experience a down draft when your fireplace is in use, turn off your exhaust fans. They naturally increase negative pressure by pulling air out of the house, which can cause a down draft. If your damper is warped, you might need to adjust it slightly to get the right airflow.
As we've mentioned above, a stove fan can increase the efficiency of your stove and because it circulates heat for your fire you're less likely to experience cold spots in the room.
Close inlet valves and chimney hatches. Use water or a fire extinguisher if the fire has spread outside the flue. You should leave the job of putting out the fire in the flue to the fire service, but if they cannot get to you quickly, you can try to control the fire with a powder extinguisher while you wait.
Powder Fire Extinguishers
The powder extinguisher is ideal for fires that start in wood, paper or cloth. However, dry powder cannot be used on Class F grease or cooking oil fires. Class A Combustible Solids: Cloth, wood, paper, rubber etc. Class B Combustible Liquids: Petrol, alcohol and paints.
Apply only enough water to knock down the flames and allow the wood to be removed. In some cases, the steam from this step will travel up the chimney and extinguish the flue fire, thus making the rest of the job even easier. Some departments use multipurpose dry chemical agents to knock down the fire.
In fact, most chimney fires are caused by creosote, which is a by-product resulting from the incomplete combustion of wood. It builds up on the sides of your chimney as a liquid and later condenses into a solid. As it builds up it not only blocks the flue, but can ignite into a fire.
Close the door to your burner. Close any air vents that are still open. Check that the damper is fully open (this will allow smoke to escape outside of your home rather than into your room). Wait for the fire to completely die down, which should only take a couple of minutes.
Alternatively, you can use sand, salt, or baking soda to douse the flames in the firebox. If the fire department has not arrived at this point, and the situation is still safe, use a hose to dampen the chimney outside. Use a gentle spray to avoid damaging the inside of the chimney.
Extinguishing a chimney fire
You can't assume a fire in the chimney will burn itself out. If the temperature is hot enough, a fast-moving fire can spread to your attic, roof, and walls, engulfing an entire home in minutes. So, you must act fast to extinguish a chimney fire.
When a fire starts inside your chimney, immediately get some water or if you have one, a fire extinguisher. Alternatively, you may use sand, baking soda or salt to douse the flames. You may control the fire that spreads outside the chimney, but you should leave the work of putting it out to trained professionals.
However, the safest option is to completely extinguish your fire before you go to bed. An unattended log stove is more likely to generate smoke and go out of control. Always leave enough time for the embers to die down rather than putting your log fire out manually.
If you're settling into bed or about to run off to work, you will want to burn an extended night fire. In an extended fire, you load large pieces of wood into your wood burning stove, tightly packed, so the fire slowly spreads from log to log, extending your burn for 6 to 8 hours or more.
Class A extinguishers will put out fires in ordinary combustibles including wood, cloth, rubber, paper, as well as many plastic materials.
Step 1: Close the door and vents
It might sound obvious, but your fire feeds off oxygen. Shutting your log burner is the first step in cutting off that oxygen, especially if you're the type who likes to crack the door open to make the room extra cosy. You'll need to close your air vents, too.
Opening the damper allows the chimney to draw in oxygen, providing the draft to fuel the fire and keep it burning longer. So, ensure your damper is open all the way before lighting the fireplace. Also, open any external vents around the fireplace for better airflow.
HETAS encourage having your chimney swept at least twice a year when burning wood and at least once a year when burning smokeless fuels. The best times to have your chimney swept are just before the start of the heating season and after your stove has not been used over a prolonged period.
No woodstove is complete without a fire extinguisher. We recommend ABC-rated dry chemical extinguishers with at least 5 lbs. capacity, one for each floor, plus one close to your stove.
On Top of the Stove, Near the Back – The most common and effective place to position a stove top fan is directly on top of the stove, closer to the back.
Replacing the back wall with heat-resistant materials, like heat-resistant stones or a specialized wood stove heat shield, can be cumbersome and aesthetically displeasing. A simpler, more elegant solution is to use a cast iron fireback as a heat shield for the wood stove.
When lighting your stove, open both air vents fully. On initially lighting, it can be an advantage to crack the door open slightly to provide additional air flow through the firebox. Once the fire is established, close the door and then close down the bottom air vent gradually.