Chimney Fires

 
It's a known and unavoidable fact that dirty chimneys can cause chimney fires, which damage structures, destroy homes and injure or kill people.
Not all chimney fires burn explosively and therefore are not noisy and dramatic enough to be detected by neighbours or passers-by.  With proper care, chimney fires are entirely preventable and your Chimney Cleaner engineer will recommend an ideal cleaning schedule to ensure your chimney's safe upkeep. In addition to keeping your chimney clean there are a few other things you can do to prevent chimney fires:

• Use seasoned woods only (dryness is more important than the type of wood used) 
• Build smaller, hotter fires that bum more completely and produce less smoke
• Avoid burning cardboard boxes, paper, rubbish or Christmas trees; these can spark a chimney fire

Chimney fires burn at about 2000' F which in masonry chimneys can melt the mortar, crack tiles, cause liners to collapse and damage the outer masonry material. Most often, tiles crack and mortar is displaced, which provides a route for flames to reach the timbers of the house. In Pre-fabricated, or metal lined chimneys, damage to these systems can still occur, usually in the form of buckled or warped seams and joints. When pre-fabricated or metal chimney liners are damaged by fire, they should no longer be used and must be replaced.

Causes of Chimney Fires

Solid fuel stoves and fireplaces are designed to safely contain and burn fuel, providing heat for your home. The chimneys that serve them have the job of expelling the exhaust fumes and substances given off from the burning fuel.

As these substances rise up the chimney and cool down, condensation occurs and forms a residue that sticks to the chimney. Usually black or brown in appearance, it is highly combustible and in sufficient quantities can catch alight.

Certain conditions encourage the problem; restricted air supply, unseasoned wood and cold chimney temperatures (especially external wall chimneys) are all factors that can accelerate the build-up of flammable residues.
How to tell if you have suffered a chimney fire

Without proper inspection it's difficult to be certain your chimney has suffered fire damage, there are a few signs a professional chimney sweep looks for:

• Puffy residue / creosote, with rainbow coloured streaks, that has expanded beyond its normal form
• Warped metal of the damper, metal smoke chamber, connector pipe or factory-built metal chimney
• Cracked or collapsed flue tiles, or tiles with large chunks missing
• Discoloured and distorted rain cap / flue
• Creosote flakes on the roof or ground
• Damaged roofing material
• Cracks in masonry
• Evidence of smoke escaping through mortar joints of masonry or tile liners

What to do if you have a chimney fire

If you think your chimney may be on fire;

1. Get everybody out of the building
2. Call the fire brigade

• Point a fire extinguisher into the fireplace or wood stove
• Close the glass doors on the fireplace
• Close the air inlets on the wood stove
• Use a garden hose to spray down the roof (not the chimney) so the fire won't spread to the rest of the structure

Malvern Roofing years of experience in chimney lining mean we are able to ensure we only use the best quality flexible stainless steel liners available in order to guarantee a safe and long lasting chimney installation.

Our chimney surveyors are able to provide you with the most appropriate flexible liner size and quality to meet your requirements. 

Flexible chimney liners come in many sizes and of different qualities; covering single skinned flexible liners suitable for class 2 gas and oil appliances and double skinned stainless steel chimney liners suitable for class 1 gas fires and solid fuel appliances.

We offer two grades of multi fuel double skinned stainless steel liners for installations:

• 316 stainless steel flexible liner with a 10 year manufacture warranty
• 904 stainless steel flexible liner with a 25 year manufacture warranty..

Our first-rate flexible chimney liners are installed for wood burning stoves, multi fuel stoves and open solid fuel fires.