That was close. The fire was warm and inviting but it all changed when Angie saw smoke coming up through the wood floor at the outer edge of the hearth in our 90+ year old house last night. Weve only lived here a couple of months, so theres still much to be learned about what works, and what we now know clearly doesnt. Before anyone comments with blame posting, thats not the purpose of this post. It is just a cautionary story that should be told. This house was recently inspected, but I think the inspector missed this, or perhaps it couldnt have been known. We were posed to call 911 at every second during the quickly unfolding event. We assumed an ember had popped out and landed in the crack at the edge of the hearth, so we doused the spot with water. It seemed to have no effect on the smoke. I went under the house and into the crawl space under the firebox. There I could see the smoke was wafting down from the insulation under the fireplace. (Im pretty sure there shouldnt have been insulation under the firebox.) I pulled down the insulation and was surprised to be showered with sand. I could see a gaping hole in the wooden supporting structure under the firebox. It was smoldering with red edges, hence the sand that supports the firebricks was oozing out as well. So much of the supporting structure was missing that I dont think theres any way this all burned last night. There wasnt even enough smoke in the house to set off the fire alarm. The majority of the smoke was traveling underneath the floor joists and going out though an opening in the front porch decking. Thats why there wasnt much smoke coming up through the floor. I sprayed the smoldering wood with water, which of course created more smoke. I then used tools to pull down the parts that had been visibly burning, putting the pieces in metal pans so Angie could take them outside. I stayed with it until all visible evidence of burning was gone. I then sprayed it all down with a commercial fire extinguisher, making sure to get it up and under the framing. I dont know if youve ever witnessed this, but it causes a tremendous amount of choking, lingering dust. I then came upstairs and dismantled some of the masonry work in the firebox to be doubly sure there was no fire left in the supporting structure. I found none, but could also see where the tuckpointing in bottom row of fire brick had failed. I suspect this allowed heat and embers to make it all the way past the firebricks and down to the original wood supporting structure platform. When I rebuild this it will be corrugated metal and concrete, rather than wood. So much of the supporting wood appears to have previously burned that we are very fortunate the entire firebox didnt fall through into the crawlspace. We opened doors and windows for as long as we could stand it to air the place out last night. Today were cleaning up dust and will open the house again this afternoon for more fresh air.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 16:57:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015