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Early this evening, we decided to have our first fire of the season. We bought one of those "chimney sweep" logs to clean the fireplace since we use it so rarely. Almost immediately after, the roaring sound occurred and I knew, instantly, we had a chimney fire. Outside, flames were shooting several feet into the air from the top of our chimney. Very scary! We had a nearby fire extinguiser to extinguish the fire in the fireplace and my husband hosed down the roof until the fire department arrived.
Thankfully, we did not suffer any major damage to the house, just the chimney. The big problem I had was smoke. Lots and lots of smoke. The entire two stories of my house absolutely filled with it. It was coming out of the soffits in the attic! We wiped down the soot in the living room where the fire occurred but the smell of smoke is still so strong it burns my eyes.
Is this something I can easily do myself or will this require a professional? What kind of costs would this be? I am willing to clean and do the hard work but it does feel a bit overwhelming. I know the chimney liner (metal) will have to be replaced. Fire department told me that. Figured I could pay for that out of pocket instead of putting a claim against my house. But the cleaning part is freaking me out a bit. There's just SO much! Any help would be appreciated.
This is one of those things that you may be money ahead in filing an insurance claim. There are professional cleaners who specialize in fire restoration/cleaning. Smoke is one of the most difficult smells to get out of a house.
Check your local yellow pages under ServiceMaster and the type. The clean-up may be covered under an insurance claim but you'll want to get estimates together for the new liner as well as the cleaning and check with your insurance company first. Your agent may be able to refer you to a company sucessfully used by other of their customers.
So sorry for what you are having to go through but thankful that you and your family got out safely and did not lose your home!
I'm so sorry this happened to you, but VERY thankful that you, your family & your home (for the most part) are okay! I would at least call a few disaster recovery places in your area & get quotes to see how much it would cost to have everything professionally cleaned, that way you at least know if it's something that you are or are not willing to pay.
I've been through a fire just recently but much worse. The smoke has oils in it, this oil penetrates things like wood and will obviously be coated on everything. Cleaning it incorrectly can actually make the issue worse. I hate to say it but you may never get that smell out.
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Figured I could pay for that out of pocket instead of putting a claim against my house.
You should have been on the phone with your insurance company ASAP, this is what you're paying for. If you had a lot of smoke through the whole house this is much bigger problem than you think. That smell will be on everything, anything without an impervious surface like glazing on dishes is very hard to clean. Clothes are not a great issue because you put them in washing machine but you can't put a sofa in a washing machine. Even stuff with painted surfaces will absorb this smell. As far as hard items like dishes go, soak in tub of hot water using regular automatic dishwasher detergent like Cascade. Note I said dishwasher and not dishwashing. Another product we found that worked well is called greased lighting.
Last edited by thecoalman; 12-02-2010 at 04:26 AM..
+1 to all the above.
You don't know what the toxins were or what else was in that smoke.
The remediation companies know what they're doing, and have all the equipment & manpower to do the job safely & efficiently. They even remove the dishes in the cabinets & wipe them down.
I would suggest your family leave the house for a day or 2 while they do there job-for your own health. The insurance covers all of this.
If the smells are in your clothing & such afterward though, vinegar and a fresh water rinse will neutralize that in the washer.
DON'T try to do it yourself.
Best of luck & safety. It could have been worse. This is the worst time of year for household fires, with space heaters, christmas trees & chimney fires and candles.
I hope others read your thread and learn from your experience.
I agree with the posters above - call your insurance company, then professional cleaners.
The home I grew up in had a major fire when I was seven. I'll never forget the smell. It eventually dissipated, mostly. But every once in awhile, something would come out of storage that we had before the fire and it would hit you in the face. After a few years, it becomes rancid. Now, that smell, even not rancid, turns my stomach. And I can smell a house fire/plastic burning before anyone else.
+++ to all 6 previous posters. Call the insurance company. That's what insurance is for. The insurance company will have a list of approved cleaners. They also know all the steps to take to get the house cleaned along with everything in it. Hopefully you also have coverge that will pay for living elsewhere while the house is cleaned.
Thankfully your family is safe. Now go for the insurance and take some of the stress off yourself.
Thank you all for your comments. I had a chimney inspection and smoke/fire remediation company in today. Since the company that does the clean up is one of my neighbors, he is helping me without needing to cost an arm and a leg. Being neighborly, basically. I will need an entirely new chimney and fireplace since this was a prefab unit. It was surprisingly affordable.
To further clarify why I wanted to avoid insurance on this...I live by the ocean. My insurance is insanely expensive and they drop policies for just about anything and very few companies are writing new ones. I have a very very high deductible and am willing to deal with these types of losses and mainly have the insurance for a Hugo style event.
Since I will do a lot of the grunt work on the cleaning and my neighbor is assisting, this will be most cost effective for me. I do not mind the work. However, y'all are absolutely correct. The smoke got everywhere! I was lucky because apparently it wasn't an oily smoke but an ashy one?? That's what the remediation company told me. Apparently, it's easier to clean. I have to wash every loving thing, even clothes that were in drawers. They are steam cleaning the furniture to help with the smell. The fire department, when they were here, were able to quickly evacuate the smoke from the house after putting out the fire. This greatly limited the amount of damage.
On another note. I cannot express how grateful and impressed I am with our fire department. They arrived at my house within two minutes of calling 911 with six trucks. Without them, I would have lost my house. They are truly heroes.
Now you just need to stop using those chimney sweep logs and plan on a REAL chimney sweep once a year...
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