Please read, Important!!!

[shooterdave]

Well, after reading all if the replies, I realize, once again, just how special of a group everyone here at OSA is. I truly appreciate all of the support and words of encouragement and prayer. We are all doing well and the insurance guys are going to be here Friday if the weather clears a bit. Looking back on the whole situation, I kinda feel a bit stupid for not having a couple of chem sticks handy for a flue fire. It might have lessened the damage. Mostly, though. I think back to when we built the house and remember getting talked into using triple wall flue pipe instead of tile and mortar construction. The installation was performed by a certified technician for the product, but something went wrong. The unit itself is a high-end isokern formed fireplace that is brick and mortar installed from the factory techs. As best I can tell, it is in good shape. Just the piping is screwed. I guess we will see what the experts say about that. As for the fireplace... Just a day later and I sure miss the warmth and soothing quality of a fire burning... I guess I have a lot of decisions to make in a pretty short amount of time as to what to do about that.

Thanks guys, for everything. I could tell by the responses that there was genuine concern and care in them. I really appreciate those who said they took the time to look at their smoke detectors and extinguishers. The though that someone else may benefit or be spared some tragedy because of it is really heartwarming.

Now... If it will just warm the hell up so we can do some shootin'!!!

 

[BadgeBunny]

OMGosh Dave ... that is just downright frightening. I am so glad you guys are all okay.

(And no kidding about the warming up! This weather is just getting totally out of hand!)

 

[Sentenza]

I'm sorry for your troubles, and especially sorry they've come with the poor weather we've had the past week. Thanks for the heads up.

Sentenza

 

[ssgrock3]

Glad you and yours are ok. We had a total house fire, so understand.

For everyones 411, Bootleggn on here, has high quality, larger than the standard store bought fire extinguishers for sale on a regular basis. We bought a large model to backup our kitchen unit.

 

[alank2]

Hi,

Wow, glad everyone is ok, fires are nothing to mess with. Glad you got most of it out as to minimize damage.

I agree wholeheartedly with having fire extinguishers - I have one in my kitchen, both bathrooms, garage, and office which places then around the house in close by places. This reminds me to go and check them all.

Take care,

Alan

 

[WILLARD]

Hey guys/gals. I had a really serious situation happen this evening and I want to share in the hopes that someone else may avoid a tragedy.

About 5 minutes from home I received a call from my wife telling me the house was on fire. As I got to within about a mile of the house I saw the flames coming from the top of my chimney stack. Fortunately, we have a great Fire Dept. In Coalgate and they were about three minutes behind me. By the time I got home my Father-in-law (who lives with us) had gotten everyone out and into his truck. We got to work in the attic trying to keep the falling embers from igniting the ceiling and rest of the roof. By the time our extinguishers crapped out the FD had gotten hoses out and we got the blaze out pretty quick. The chimney stack is trashed, along with a bit of the roof and a fair amount of water damage, but everything considered it could have been sooooooo much worse.

All that said, this a new home. We have been in it about 16 months now. We burn good, seasoned hard wood and I check my flue on occasion. This is not the situation one usually thinks of when one hears of chimney fire. We were very lucky. Many nights I load up the fireplace at bedtime and even get up in the middle on the night to add wood. If this had happened in the middle of the night it could of been catastrophic.

Everyone, PLEASE..... Take a bit of time and make sure you have a couple of decent sized fire extinguishers in the house or garage. Make sure the batteries in the smoke and CO detectors are good. Inspect you heating sources for ANY abnormality and correct them if you find something. Also, develop a plan with your family for emergencies. Imagine trying to vacate your home in the ice/snow like we had the past few weeks. Have a place to meet. Keep your spare keys where you can grab them on the way out. As I said, this happened in a well-built, new home. The opportunities for failure in older homes in many times greater. As it turned out, the fire inspector believes our fire was due to a faulty seam in the triple-wall flue pipe venting my fireplace.

We are all safe and sound, and a bit shaken. The smoke damage is mostly limited to my walk-in attic and upper room. Our personal belongings are mostly fine and the clothes just need a washing. I got lots of plastic sheeting and plywood patching the roof together and didn't lose any utilities, just my sanity! I truly hope that everyone that reads this will at least walk around and look for possible problems. Maybe this ordeal can keep someone else from having a similar problem. Thank God for insurance, I'll never ***** about a premium again!

Who knows, maybe I'll be able to sleep again in a few days. It's 4:20am right now.

I to had a chimney fire a couple of years ago and the orignal home owner left a chimney extinguisher next to the fire place insert. These look like a road flare but once lit they start spewing dry chemical. By the time the fire dept. got here the fire was almost out and they didn't have to use any water. The next morning I went to the fire dept. to find out where to buy those extingushers and the chief pulled one off the truck and gave it to me. Since our fire we have the chimney cleaned every year and have not had any problems.

 

[Bootleggn]

Glad you and yours are ok. We had a total house fire, so understand.

For everyones 411, Bootleggn on here, has high quality, larger than the standard store bought fire extinguishers for sale on a regular basis. We bought a large model to backup our kitchen unit.

Thank you, we also service 100% of the great State of Oklahoma. Give me a call, I will always give members of this forum a great deal.. More importantly, remember to stay safe!

 

[HMFIC]

Man... glad to hear everything is ok considering and nobody got hurt. Thanks for the reminder too.