Chimney Mystery!

[Eve]

Random question! Is it normal for quite a lot of what look like large sparks/ember like bits to be coming out of a chimney?

Not an old house either, in a city residential area so not somewhere you really see any chimneys going.

[boxtops]

Not uncommon if the chimney hasn't be swept for a while.......

[sherrardk]

Probably some with a log burner on the go.

[Zacs-Master]

Depends what they've been burning. Agree that it probably needs cleaning. Apparently sweeps are doing rather well as people turn to open fires and log burners.

[Eve]

Ahh, thank you. Saw it in a house behind me, orange bits going all over the roof too, and went out (so classy, in my dressing gown and slippers, but it might have been an emergency as I wasn't sure haha!) and asked some ladies in the street who also weren't sure and thought it looked odd. They said they would knock on and check as they were going out that way...and were properly clothed which was a bonus!

We obviously aren't used to such sights round here :)

Ah well, it gave me a bit of a break from trying to sit with my legs above my heart!

[diddlydo]

Maybe "Builder" would like to comment on this. We have a chimney in a 1970s house that we burn wood on and all our paper/cardboard rubbish. We've had it swept twice in 36 years and each time the chimney sweep has said "Hardly worth sweeping"!

[Sparkles62]

Sounds very much like the chimney was on fire, not good at all.
It happened to me twice, once in my own house and once when I was visiting a friend, was put out by the fire brigade both times ( the safest way, and leaves chimney soot free and clean ) you can usually hear quite a roaring sound in the room with the fire and see sparks coming out of the chimney.

[Clanad]

Sparkles answer would be an apt response here in the western U.S. A chimney fire occurs when the soot build up catches fire itself. Usually, (here, at least) burning pine type firewoods contributes significantly to the possibility of a fire, due to the oils and incomplete burning in that type of wood.

The phenomena is often accompanied by an outpouring of significant black smoke as well as the sparks. If the chimney is lined with and adequate liner the fire won't hurt the structure, but, if the chimney is an older brick and mortar structure (even cement block and mortar) a really serious fire can begin burning the mortar, which has a higher lime content and can burn through to the supporting roof structure.

As already mentioned, good chimney cleaning on a regular schedule will eliminate most problems, but to really assure no such occurrence, installation of a stainless steel, insulated liner is a must… but somewhat expensive, depending on the height of the chimney…

Another, interim safety item is a chimney fire extinguisher. They (at least here) consist of a cylinder about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and maybe 14 to 16 inches long and contains an extinguishing agent that eliminates oxygen to the fire. One simply throws it into the burning fireplace or insert where it ignites. They work pretty well, but don't take the place of an updated chimney...

[The Builder]

I get this quite often with my chimney. In my job, I get a lot of offcuts and demolition timber. It's very dry, and well seasoned, so it roars away with a lot of crackling and sparks.

Like Diddly, I burn all the rubbish and packing. Luckily, I'm away from the thatched houses in the village ;o)

[atalanta]

When I was very tiny and lived in London, chimneys catching fire were quite common. The main way you knew about it was the smell. The whole neighbourhood smelled of sooty, sulphurous burning.
Once smelled, never forgotten.