As many of you know I do volunteer fire work. Last night we got a call out for a fire. I have posted safety tips in the past. I only post tips when a situation is odd and is something you could do with out thinking. Last night was one of those times.
OK you have a great roaring fire going in the fireplace. This is one of the joys of mountain living. Maybe you have a take out dinner with some wine and decide to throw the bag, paper, the dinner came in on the fire. So far so good. But here what happened. The fire was hot so the heat pushed the bag up the chimney and the burning bag was trapped at the chimney top. The chimney looked like it was on fire and the bag blocked the exit for the smoke so smoke poured into the home , again making the home owner think there was a fire. In the end we all arrived and made sure no embers went into the woods or caught the roof on fire.The home was fine.
So today's tip is if you have a roaring fire remember heat rises and when you add to a fire make sure what you add will not scoot up your chimney potentially causing a chimney or roof fire, as well as blocking the path for smoke to exit.
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Charlie Ragonesi All Mountain Realty Big Canoe and Mountain Blog
On line at www.allmountainrealty.com Call at 706 579 1098
This is very helpful Charlie, thanks!
Hey Charlie, what were they thinking using the fireplace as a garbage disposal? Most take out containers and bags have styrofoam and plastics that cause nasty odors and sometimes noxious fumes. They are lucky nothing worse happened.
Charlie ---- this is certainly a good safety tip -- please don't ever hesitate to give us fire tips -- you could save our lives.
Hi Charlie:
Great fire safety tip.
Good thing that I generally don't throw paper bags into a fire...
My luck, that would happen to me!