Had the Fire Dept. over tonight on a 911 call

[SHRED]

Moral of the story?

Make sure the damper on your fireplace is fully open!

Started out okay.
Got a small fire going.
Added a good size log and the house started getting real smoky.

Fire guys took the big log off and I hosed it down in the backyard.

Boy did I feel like a heel when later on I checked and the damper was only about 1/5th open.

DOH!!!




:dunce:

[emilyg]

1. I've done that.

[Suich]

2. Happens more often than you think...

:rofl:

Glad that's all it was!

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Yikes!

Glad that things turned out okay, but that must have been scary... Just hope that it isn't a problem to air out your house. If it's cold enough for a fire, it's too cold to leave the windows open. :( :pals:

[SHRED]

6. it gets cold at night but today...

...it will be 72 degrees.

I plan on sponge mopping the walls with an order control formula and airing out the house.

---

[Rhiannon12866]

12. So sorry that you had to go through all this, but it's warm enough during the day

To have the windows open. Here in NY, it's gone up to a balmy 12-degrees! This sounds like a nightmare for you, but at least you're okay. A few years ago, we lost power during a winter storm and I slept near the fireplace at my mother's house. I guess that the damper wasn't open enough there, either, since I woke up with soot in my nose and my eyes. Hoping that you get back to normal soon... :hi:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

4. went to a fire once....

the cause.... Some drunk guy put his underwear in the oven to "dry them off"..Sweeet. Dont feel so bad.

[whistler162]

5. Hopefully you have had the chimney cleaned?

If not get it done before the next fire.

Glad you and everyone is okay.

[applegrove]

7. I've done that at the cottage. Sometimes it is so dark when you look up the chimney that you cannot

tell it is not open.

[Skittles]

8. enough talk about your "fire"

were these firefighters good-looking? :D

[SHRED]

14. my wife pointed out a couple of cute ones

Fortunately I am not the jealous type...LOL

[Skittles]

16. LOL, your wife is awesome!

you too, SHRED :D

[SHRED]

17. thanks Skittles

back at ya

:hug:

[Kaleva]

9. We got a call one evening about a fire in the back of a house.

We raced to the scene in our firetrucks with the sirens wailing only to find a few drunk guys standing around a small bonfire. They gave us a case of their beer and we returned to the fire hall where several members drank the case.

[petronius]

10. But the fire guys were already gone by the time you checked the damper?

If you didn't have to tell them about it, I'd call the whole thing a modest win...

Glad you didn't burn the house down!

[SHRED]

13. they were gone

The fire was too hot too look up in there.
Besides...I thought I had opened it 100%... :redfaced:

[nolabear]

11. (raises hand) Actually we had a sort of reverse chimney fire.

We used to live in a great house built into a hillside and the flue went through two fireplaces, one below the other. We started a fire on the main floor and there was a creosote buildup below it in the chimney for the lower floor. Smoke galore, a tiny chimney fire down below.

MAN, those were some cute firemen. Hated the hole in the side of the house, tho'.

Almost as much fun as the time my kid got his head stuck in the bannister.

[UTUSN]

15. I made an embarrassing call

The neighbors across the street have their property crosswise, such that their backyard and garage is directly across the street in front of my front.

So there were some odd combination of weather---heavy dew and chilly morning that turned hot? I don't remember. But at some point I saw SMOKE rising apace from the roof of the garage, and actually those neighbors had had a fire there a year or so before. So I did my thang and called.

So the fire troop arrived in a flash, all the bells and whistles. Imagine my surprise and embarrassment when they told me that the "smoke" was actually STEAM from the evaporating CONDENSATION on the roof!1