Andy Hall wrote:


Chimney fires are all about dirt flues and burning too hot. If you get
one, you puit teh fire out below immediately with buckest of water, and
block teh flue to starve the oxygen. It goes out n a few seconds. Its
very unlikely that it would hurt damp wet thatch, but I have a hose
always connected outside anyway.


That was one thing that I was thinking about, and should be avoidable
with proper sweeping of the chimney anyway.

I was thinking more in terms of log fires and during lighting with
paper etc. where small pieces of burning material can go up the flue,
or do you feel that they should have cooled sufficiently by the time
they have gone up the flue and potentially blown across and fallen
onto the roof? Presumably all this is OK or there would be many
more fires. I can appreciate that the greater danger is from
within.


The flues are pretty tall. Mine is, on a storey-and-half house, 9 meters
from grate to the pot from memory. Being fairly large fires as well
they don't draw to a roar easily. I have set coal flues alight -
usually by getting a good roar going when starting using
hardboard/cardboard etc. Even these rarely carry burning stuff all the
way up tho - only time I have EVER seen the top spouting red hot stuff
is in a flue fire. Everyone should start one just for the experience :-)

And if its that hot, it gets carried well clear anyway.

Basically, the regs have got it about rigfht IMHO. You have to work
pretty hard to have a problem with open fires that are designed to regs
these days, and swept properly.







.andy

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