Would you care if your home was on fire?

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What an oddity.

I was dropping my wife off at the hair solon when I saw this plume of smoke rise from the chimney of the house next door. It was not just smoke, but thick, heavy and gray. I even pointed it out to my wife and then it just blew up. I mean this big fireball. Really big. Kind of like an explosion since the smoke was now on fire. It simmered down pretty quick but it was a good chimney fire nonetheless.

So I grab the cell phone and call 911. They need the house number so I am running towards the house to get the number and see if anyone is inside. The first apartment there is no one home, but in the back there is a 60's ish woman, in her bath robe typing away on the computer. Its 14:30 PM.

I was like,"Did you know you have a chimney fire?"

She looks at me in disgust and says,"Well how bad is it?"

"Pretty darn bad."

"Then she says, "Well what do you want me to do about it?"

"I said,"Well I called the fire department so you might want to get dressed before they get here."

Now I know it was just a chimney fire, but here in Maine a lot of houses have been lost because a chimney fire went from bad to worse. This woman had no care in the world about it. It was like I ruined her day because I was telling her chimney was on fire.

Anyway the fire department came and it was not a simple chimney fire. They had 3 trucks there by the time they got the fire out. (two engines and a ladder truck. They needed the extra trucks to get to the tall chimney). It did not spread to the rest of the house however.

Anyway back inside the Hair Salon they said she has fires all the time which explained her cavalier attitude. Myself I am not one to panic easily but if I have a fire in my house, that would cause me to get a touch excited.

PS: Woodburners on this forum...a good reminder to watch for cresote build up.:dunno:
 
We have lost quite a few homes due to chimney fires over the years.
Not a type fire to take lightly, She was lucky to have you in the area
to take action, you may have saved her live! :thumb:

She may not be so lucky next time. :doh:
 
Kind of reminds me of the time several years ago......my sweetheart and I were out for a drive on a cold clear winter morning. As we drove by a country house we saw a pail on fire on the front step beside the house. I stopped, drove into the yard and found that someone had emptied the ashes from a wood stove into the metal pail and then set the pail onto the front step right beside the wood siding that clad the house. In the cold oxygen rich air the coals had caught fire again and were burning up along the siding of the house. I moved the pail into the yard away from the house, knocked on the door and told the women who answered the knock that her house had almost caught fire from the pail. Her response......."ok - thanks", followed by the door closing in my face..........

If we had been five minutes later.....she probably would have cared a bit more.

cheers

John
 
There are probably more poorly designed and built chimneys than good ones. As much as I rankle at any kind of government interference in folks' lives (e.g. building codes), I have to admit that amateur built chimneys can be deadly, and sometimes are. Occasionally some people do need protection from themselves.
Good work, Travis. :thumb:
 
Nice work Travis. :thumb: Our neighbors caught fire a few years back and my dad noticed the flames coming out the top. They got it put out and shortly after my dad had some sticks that looked like road flares that were extinguishers for just such a problem.

Sounds like the FD should either fine her or shut her fireplace down until a good cleaning has been done and an inspection performed if it has happened before.
 
Many years ago when I lived in Utica, my neighbors were having a christmas party and had a fire going... I looked out our window and saw smoke roiling out of the chimney... in the Middle of the building height wise.. I had my folks call 911 and went and got the nieghbors and all of their guests out of their house and over to ours while the firemen showed up. Minor damage to their house, rollicking party going on at ours... (guests had brought the munchies and drinks with them...)
 
Hi Travis

Well done to you on not just leaving it be like so many people do these days.
Not wishing to hijack your thread but this incident reminded me of a bad experience I had way back in the late 70's. A friend of mine and I were on a walk about (tour) in Scotland (United Kingdom),We were at the Glasgow main train station waiting for a train when we saw a young man threatening a young woman with a large knife. Concern about the womans safety we charged over there to do the honourable thing and defend the lady(or so we thought). We had just finished our stint in the army and naturally being young and brave did not give the dangers a second thought. When we approached to sort out the problem which by now had escalated to the point where the guy had the woman with the knife at her throat, instead of her being greatful we were coming to sort him out they both turned on us with the rage of two tigers.

You can imagine our surprise and shock.

Still the incident has not stopped me from helping people in distress. Just a bit more cautious now.
 
I lived through a fire in my home when I was 10.
I was sleeping and was woken up by my father, who Ive never seen like that before.

He was like a madman, he grabbed me by the arm, while I was sleeping, waking up with him dragging me by the arm in one hand and my brother by the arm in his other hand, my brother being around 13 at the time.

My baby sister, had a nightlight, it lit her sheets on fire, she had left the bed long before to jump into my parents bed, and my other younger sister was laying in bed sleeping in the same room.
My mother walked barefoot across a wooden floor, partially on fire and reached through the flames to grab my sister out of the bed and ran downstairs.
My father screaming the entire time, my grandmother was sleeping over, and he kept screaming at her to just get out, not to worry about anything.
He ran back upstairs, my brother followed him, he grabbed the mattress on fire, opened the porch door and threw it out the door, it burst into flames as he flung it.

It was around 4:45 am, I remember a guy walking his dog, watching us run out of our home, the smoke, and my father in his boxer shorts flinging the mattress, and the dog walker shouted to my father, should I call the fire dept?

I always wondered, what was this neighbor thinking that he had to ask if he should call the fire dept.

It was a very scary moment for me.

My mother was taken to the hospital by ambulance for severe burns on her feet and forearms.

ya did the right thing,
 
Where I leave we are about 300 yards from a forest full of pine trees.
A few weeks ago when going to work I saw a colum of smoke raising up, I called the local emergency number, and the woman who took my call was doubting about my information, she asked me with "that" presumtious voice

"Are you sure it is not fog what you see, you know... there is a lot of fog there this time of the year" so "I said may be the fog is in your brain" I hung up and I called the firebrigade myself. They were there in 5 minutes and I can assure you I've never seen such flames in a fog.

The only thing I can say is that it was 6:30 in the morning and she must have been sleeping instead of being awake that's what she's being paid for.
 
Years ago I had a wood furnace in my basement. I was on the roof every 2 weeks cleaning the chimney. Creasote woud build up right were the chimney went through the second floor ceiling to the attic.

I now have an outdoor wood boiler, so I dont have to be concerned about a creasote. I actually burn less wood with this boiler and heat more area, my shop, than the wood furnace in the basement.

I beleive the problem with the wood furnace in the basement was a poor draft control in the exhaust pipe that connected to the chimney. The chimney is about 34 ft high which results in a strong draw. A lot of heat when right up the chimney.
 
I actually was not looking for any kudo's at calling the fire department over seeing a fire. I think most people would do that. I did think it was odd to watch it flare up while watching it, but what was strange to me was seeing her cavalier attitude about it.

Maybe its because we live in Maine where we have the heat on in August and shut it off in June :rofl: I guess some people just don't take fires too seriously. I certainly would.
 
maybe she had the house insured for 4 times what its worth, and you ruined her plans to buy her new condo in Naples.(Florida)

You may be onto something there. The number of fires this year has been WAY up and yes things are tough in Maine right now. Of course I have started a few myself, but thankfully the statue of limitations is up so I skated by alright.:thumb:

My Great Grandfather he was well known for it. He would buy up these old farms and then put the hired man in them. Next thing you know, the farm burned down, he collected the money and bought another farm. Of course this was back in the depression so I guess no one cared.

When he bought the old Cates farm the hired man bought a new car and my Great Grandfather looked at the car and said, "Mighty shame that fancy grill is going to get real hot one of these days." The guy thought about what he said and in the middle of the night got the kids up and went to his in-laws. Sure enough two weeks later my Great Grandfather went to town and the "hired man must have left a stick in the woodstove", because the place burnt.

I told my Uncle about it and he shrugged his shoulders. "They all did it back then, its how they got by. He was no worse then any other farmer." Probably not, that is why I mentioned cellar holes in another thread. All the old places were burned, but its hard to say why.

I could go on, but I'll stop there. Fire where I live is the great equalizer.
 
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