What does a Chimney Fire sound like?

Frequently I get the question: what is a chimney fire like? Half of them sound like a freight train, the other half are slow rumblers that residents often cannot hear.

Chimney fires can cause a number of destructive issues in your fireplace and even your home. Also, it can also be extremely hazardous and risk-inducing for anyone inside the home at the time of the fire. We suggest following these steps to prevent a disaster from occurring in your home:

Make sure you are burning dried-seasoned wood and that you’re having your chimney inspected and cleaned annually. Never burn pizza boxes, pine branches, newspapers, or gift wrapping as these things are prone to igniting a chimney fire. If you can observe a fair amount of creosote inside of your chimney, this is usually an indication a chimney fire has occurred. Because Creosote is also highly inflammable, if you can see or smell a heavy creosote build-up, do not use that fireplace until it’s been properly inspected, swept and cleaned.

If you’re looking for a chimney sweep in your area, use the sweeps finder on http://www.ncsg.org/ Burn safe and warm!

Chimney Fire Demonstration

As a demonstration, we’ve created this video below. This is to show the destructive qualities a chimney fire can have on your fireplace. Inside the chimney chase going up and down your home is a flue system. When a chimney fire occurs, the heat expands and creates vertical cracks in the flues – no matter how strong the material!

Furthermore, to further prevent chimney fires, please take the time to share this video with one or two of your friends! Greatly appreciated, Clay Lamb, your Cincinnati Chimney Sweep!

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