House fire

[Sniper-T]

Yep. I had one last night!
Seems a spark or an ember dropped down between my hearth and the fireplace, and started the wooden frame smoldering, which in turn started the floor and the wall smoldering. It smoldered all day Sunday while we were out (and probably through part of the night before). Got in and started making dinner, and while I had some meat simmering, I was tidying up around the fireplace, and noticed a couple wisps of smoke coming out from under the hearth. I grabbed a flashlight and had a look down the little gap, and saw some charred wood (and heard some crackle popping), so I opened the fireplace door, so I could get a better angle to see, and that either created a puff of air, or a draft, and the smolder ignited.

I yelled for the wife, told her to go downstairs and give a report, I grabbed a fire extinguisher, and blasted it down through the gap. Or at least I tried to...

When you read the instructions on an extinguisher an the say "HOLD UPRIGHT"... they mean it. but being where the fire was, I had to hold it horizontal and only got a few puffs of suppressant out before the thing gassed out. I grabbed another one, held it on a bit straighter angle and got several good blasts down and put the fire out.

I poured some water down, to cool things off, and put out any of the smoldering parts. But, it was resilient, and kept crackling and popping.

So I went to the garage, and brought in my sprayer, like this:
Sprayer | Princess Auto

I was able to wiggle the nozzle down the gap, and then turn it in different directions to spray water around and put out the smolder-ers... or so I thought...

I was contemplating ripping the hearth apart to double check things, and we had a quick bite to eat, to discuss our next steps, and sure enough, another wisp of smoke, and a couple more crackles... That decided it. My hearth stone is an 18" wide by 6+ feet long, 4" thick slab of Limestone. Which I didn't want to break if possible, but it was bolted down to the frame of the hearth itself. So I grabbed a Jack-all and with the wife started lifting it up one side at a time, ripping the 2X6's right out of the frame. We were then able to stand it on edge, and then swing it off and on top of a covered coffee table, and then drag the whole thing out of the way. I pulled a bunch of nails, securing the hearth frame, cleaned up all the gunk (ash, extinguisher powder and waterlogged muck. then pulled the whole hearth off.

The fire burnt clean through the hardwood flooring in a couple places, into the sub floor, and up the wall under the fireplace. There were still several hot spots on the floor, so I drilled some holes through the hardwood, and found that the fire was smoldering along the joints of the hardwood, I pourd more water down there and with a satisfying sizzle. we were done.

Except now for the cleanup, and the repairs. Thank God for Insurance.

And Thank God for averting what could have been a whole hell of a lot worse.


I'll add some pics later, after I upload them

[carly]

So glad to hear that you found it and got it put out before it became worse.

[idahobob]

You are very fortunate that you still have a home to live in.

Last year, I headed into the Post Office (seven miles away). Beautiful day, not a sign of trouble anywhere. As I headed back about 10 minutes later, I could see a smoke column in the distance. As I got nearer to home, it was obvious that there was a house fire in the vicinity of our home. As it was, it was the home across the road from ours. So as I got there, I parked my rig and grabbed a hose from one of the engines there. All we could do was prevent the fire from spreading into the timber and really create a conflagration.

Now remember when I left, there were NO signs of any problems and 10 minutes later the house was totally involved. It was a total loss. The older gentleman that lived there had lived there for the past forty years and he lost EVERYTHING. He was fortunate that he got out without any injuries.

Stick frame houses go up FAST! Especially older ones whose lumber is really dry.

Bob
III

[Sniper-T]

Thanks guys. And yeah, right place at the right time. Considering we were out most of the day, had it flared up anytime sooner, and we would have come home to ashes.

As it was. You can see a little gap between the insert and the hearth stone. There was mortar in there over a metal screen, but I broke it out to get at the fire.



Hearth stone removed:



Hearth removed:



And here are some of the holes I had to drill to get water to the fire under the hardwood:

[apssbc]

Sniper good catch you guys got very very lucky. Ive been firefighting for six years now. The fire smoldered all day and didnt spread much further which was a very lucky thing. I had a fire like that which smoldered for about 8 hours before a window gave in and boom we had a rip roaring house fire.

What you had was a mini backdraft, unlike the movie they do not always blow up. The fire is burning very inefficiently and starved for oxygen. All the wood is at its ignition temperature, so all its missing is some O2. When you opened it up you gave it the last bit of ingredient it needed and thus you had fire. Good work putting it out its seems like you guys did a good job.

You obviously learned a few things, I would suggest trying to get your hands on a extinguisher with a flexible hose and nozzle. Also call the fire dept right away. The fact that you thought you had the fire out and you didnt, goes to show how dangerous it is. I know you were being more cautious than most people and were discussing plans to tear the mantel apart. You wouldnt believe how many house fires Ive had from people "extinguishing" fires, cancelling us, then we have to go back to a working house fire.

But this also brings up the question...do you want firefighters going through your house? Is your supplies, gear, and equipment hidden or somewhat concealed? What can we do to keep our EMS, and Fire Providers from asking too many questions?

There is always the possibility of needing these services, family member falls ill, fire in a dwelling, carbon monoxide alarm. There is always a chance of these things happening, and if there is a co alarm for example we want to check every nook, cranny, and device that can produce a co reading.

Just some things to think about.
AP

[bacpacker]

Glad you guys caught it got it taken care of in time. Very lucky inded.

[eagle326]

Glad everything turned out good for you and the wife. As backpacker said ; very lucky indeed. Hoping the re-build goes well.

[Twitchy]

Wow! Glad it didn't end worse! We had a full working fire in the house we live in back in 1996 when we left for vacation... When we arrived we had news from our neighbor via calling our relative that there was a fire and such... all our clothes, pictures, papers, etc. Destroyed. You were quite lucky! I also agree with calling the FD in any fire because you never know how bad it may be until its too late.

[Katrina]

Glad you guys are okay. Hope it doesn't take too long to put everything back in good shape.

[IDTANDY]

Wow,
Luck was on your side.Great reaction.