Chimney Fire Facts
As you snuggle in front of a cozy fire or bask in the warmth of your wood stove, you are taking part in a ritual of comfort and enjoyment handed down through the centuries. The last thing you are likely to be thinking about is the condition of your chimney. However, if you don't give some thought to it before you light those winter fires, your enjoyment may be very short-lived. Why? Dirty chimneys can cause chimney fires, which damage structures, destroy homes and injure or kill people.
Fireplaces and wood stoves are designed to safely contain wood-fuelled fires, while providing heat for a home. The chimneys that serve them have the job of expelling the by-products of combustion — the substances given off when wood burns.
As these substances exit the fireplace or wood stove, and flow up into the relatively cooler chimney, condensation occurs. The resulting residue that sticks to the inner walls of the chimney is called creosote. Creosote is black or brown in appearance. It can be crusty and flaky; tar-like, drippy and sticky; or shiny and hardened. Often, all forms will occur in one chimney system.
Whatever form it takes, creosote is highly combustible. If it builds up in sufficient quantities — and catches fire inside the chimney flue — the result will be a chimney fire. Although any amount of creosote can burn, sweeps are concerned when creosote builds up in sufficient quantities to sustain a long, hot, destructive chimney fire.
Certain conditions encourage the build-up of creosote: restricted air supply, unseasoned wood and cooler-than-normal chimney temperatures are all factors that can accelerate the build-up of creosote on chimney flue walls.
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