| It is cold outside and that means a fire in the fireplace.
We have a chimney sweep inspect our fireplace each year. His comments
were "if everyone got their fireplace inspected every year and cleaned the
roof at least that often we would have fewer house fires". Remember a
chimney fire can be put out by closing the damper.
If you have a run away fire call the fire department first. Then
try to do something about it. It is better though, not to let it
happen at all. The fire department has recommended a bottle of water
mixed with baking soda placed close to the fireplace to control run away
fires. Their suggestion was to mix 1 cup of baking soda with 1/2 liter
of warm water in a container and pour the mixture into a 1 liter spray
bottle, then fill up the bottle with warm tap water. We now keep this
next to our fire place when we have a fire. The baking soda when it
burns gives off carbon dioxide and when combined with the water helps
control the fire.
David Fellows dfellows@help-net.com |
