If you own a woodstove and use it regularly, preventing a chimney fire is something you need to know. Having lived through a chimney fire, I’m here to tell you it is really scary. But it is also preventable. We’ve learned a few things over the years about how to reduce our chance of a chimney fire and I haven’t had one since that first time.
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I didn’t grow up with a wood stove, so the first year I lived with one was a huge learning experience for me. That was the year I had a chimney fire. Thankfully the fire department was only a few miles from my house and came quickly. I was lucky that there was no damage to the home. I was a nervous wreck after that and rarely used my wood stove the rest of that season. After I did more research on preventing a chimney fire, I feel a lot more confident using our wood stove all day, everyday throughout the winter.
What Causes a Chimney Fire?
When you burn in a wood stove, a byproduct called creosote builds up on the inside of the chimney. If you’re not familiar with what creosote is, here is a great explanation from Hearth.com
“Creosote is a gummy, foul smelling, corrosive and extremely combustible substance that, if no precautions are taken, will coat the insides of everything it passes through. It is formed when volatile gases given off in the burning process combine and condense on their way out of the chimney…..It can form a hard layer coating the insides of pipes and chimney liners. It can form into a fluffy substance that plugs pipes and breaks off and falls down, filling low spots in piping. It is the cause of most chimney fires and the main reason chimneys and pipes have to be cleaned and inspected periodically.”I was taught that the telltale sign that you are having a chimney fire is hearing a popping, crackling noise throughout your stovepipe. That was the first thing that tipped me off to the chimney fire I experienced. Once I heard the popping and crackling in the stovepipe, I closed the flue and ran outside. When I saw flames shooting from the top of chimney, I immediately called 911. Later the firefighters told me I could have soaked newspapers in water and threw them in the woodstove. This would have created a lot of steam to help put out the fire in the chimney. Good tip to know, although I hope to never need it again!
How to Prevent a Chimney Fire
The tips on this list are all things we have done over the years to prevent a chimney fire.
1. Clean your chimney We can always tell when our stove pipe is getting clogged up and needs to be cleaned. When our stove is consistently not drafting well and smoke comes out the door rather than drafting up the stove pipe we know it is time to clean it out. We bought one of these brushes
2. Use dry wood. If your wood is wet or not fully cured, it will not burn as hot as dry wood. It will also smoke more. Burning wet wood leads to creosote building up faster in your chimney.
3. Burn the hardest firewood you can find. Hardwood trees are not native to our area. When we go out to cut firewood, we search for Douglas Fir, Larch and Lodgepole Pine. Compared to those of you who burn hardwoods, creosote will build up faster in our chimney. We steer clear of really sappy pines like Ponderosa Pine or wood that just doesn’t burn hot like Sub-Alpine Fir. The first year I had a wood stove, someone gave me a bunch of scrap 2×4 pine boards. I was excited since it was free wood to heat my house. Little did I know at the time, but those pine boards had a lot of pitch in them which also probably helped contribute to the creosote build up and chimney fire.
4. Burn your wood stove in the “burn zone” daily. If you burn your wood stove hot enough on a regular basis, it will help prevent the build up of creosote. We have this handy gadget 
5. Use a creosote remover powder
If you use a wood stove on a regular basis, implementing these tips can go a long way in helping you to prevent a chimney fire. My husband always makes a point of getting up on the roof, inspecting the chimney and cleaning it out at least once a year. My hope in sharing these tips is that it will help you become more aware of what causes a chimney fire and how to prevent it. Wood stoves offer wonderful warmth and can help save money heating your house, but they can be dangerous if you don’t know proper maintenance. So now you can stay cozy, warm and safe at home!
Do you have any tips to share?
We’ve found the best way to prevent the build up is that burn zone daily. Doing that has meant we haven’t had to clean out the chimney at all during the winter, which is so nice.
Once we got one of those gauges that shows the “burn zone” we didn’t have to clean our chimney out much either! My husband gets up on the roof about once a year to clean out the chimney, mainly because I rest easier knowing it is definitely cleaned out since I don’t ever want that scary experience of a chimney fire again!
You can install a tee at the bottom of the stack if your flue comes out the side wall, with a cap on the bottom to clean it out without getting on the roof.
I’ve also heard of throwing a cup of salt in on a hot fire to clean out the flue.
I’ve never heard of using salt on a fire to clean out the stove pipe. I’m definitely going to do a little research on that since it sounds a bit more natural than the stuff I mentioned in tip #5!
Table or rock salt
Great tips, we too heat with wood and have our stove and chimney cleaned every year! Thanks for sharing your post on the HomeAcre Hop hope to see you again tomorrow! – Nancy The Home Acre Hop
Good tips for preventing chimney fires. We have never had one, thank the Lord, but it is always something I think about when the winter comes. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips with us.
Rhonda
thefarmerslamp.com
This is a great reminder to get our chimney ready for winter. I have just added it to my hubby’s to-do list. Thanks for the reminder!
it is also a good idea to ask the people you hire to clean your chimney how they plan on doing it. A friends parents had a fire last year, turned out that instead of being cleaned with the traditional brush, the company used a powered drill like brush to “super clean” the chimney, which damaged the older mortar and probably caused the fire..
I had a massive chimney fire in my house few years ago for the same reason, not very good build quality and not very good cleaning job. If your chimney was made from bricks without a ceramic flue which is the way it was done some 50 years ago, bad cleaning can damage you chimney thus making space for that sticky gunk to build up. One sure way of preventing chimney fire if damaged chimney is the cause is “upgrading” your chimney by inserting thin stainless steel tube (looks like a tube for kitchen aspirator only a bit sturdier) which prevents buildup, and isn’t prone to cracking or exploding when extreme temperature change happens. I did that, wasn’t cheap but it helped.
I was advised by a few fireman to buy the cheapest soap powder on the market and throw a cupful (or two) onto a good hot fire to clean the chimney. I do this at least once a month. They say it works the same as the powder stuff that is sold.
What kind of soap do you use? We have a wood stove and only burn hard wood but it has never been cleaned that i know of and i’m trying to prepare for winter.
Does a cup of salt help with stainless steel flue liners and how often do I use that method?
Here is the easiest way to clean your chimney on the roof or from the in side, it’s called the “Soot-Eater” Chimney cleaning system. This is a flexible rod that has heavy duty “string line” like a weed eater and the smallest drill will run the unit. If you don’t have power tools and you have someone to help you it will work from a hand drill, not as well but it will get the job done