Well interesting Sunday night.
Stocked up the fire with coal and wood to fight off the cold temperatures and settled down to watch some crap TV.
Looked at the stove and thought the fire seems to be drawing well, took a second look - fck!! the flue is glowing red, look outside, smoke streaming out of the side of the chimney stack, top of the flue glowing red - aaaahhhhhhhhhh!
Called the fire brigade - they turned up really promptly. Three hours later they finally gave the all clear. They had poked and prodded the flue from above and below, bit of water down the stack (which only started dripping down after about a minute, the rest just steamed!).
Told by fire brigade this was one of the worst and complicated chimney fire they had experienced - scary. We'd done the right thing calling them out. I dread to think what would have happened had we gone to bed without noticing - <shudder>
To top it off - our youngest woke with a bad reaction to the latest antibiotics for his latest bout of tonsilitis - watching firemen coming in and out of my house with 3 year old on lap vomiting into a bowl - what a night!
Comedy moment: our eldest (6) slept through the lot - firemen on a ladder outside his window, flashing lights outside the house, rods rattling up and down the chimney breast in his room. Only finally woke up when fireman went into his room to check the wall temperature with his thermal imaging camera.
What a night - still slightly shaky.
Stocked up the fire with coal and wood to fight off the cold temperatures and settled down to watch some crap TV.
Looked at the stove and thought the fire seems to be drawing well, took a second look - fck!! the flue is glowing red, look outside, smoke streaming out of the side of the chimney stack, top of the flue glowing red - aaaahhhhhhhhhh!
Called the fire brigade - they turned up really promptly. Three hours later they finally gave the all clear. They had poked and prodded the flue from above and below, bit of water down the stack (which only started dripping down after about a minute, the rest just steamed!).
Told by fire brigade this was one of the worst and complicated chimney fire they had experienced - scary. We'd done the right thing calling them out. I dread to think what would have happened had we gone to bed without noticing - <shudder>
To top it off - our youngest woke with a bad reaction to the latest antibiotics for his latest bout of tonsilitis - watching firemen coming in and out of my house with 3 year old on lap vomiting into a bowl - what a night!
Comedy moment: our eldest (6) slept through the lot - firemen on a ladder outside his window, flashing lights outside the house, rods rattling up and down the chimney breast in his room. Only finally woke up when fireman went into his room to check the wall temperature with his thermal imaging camera.
What a night - still slightly shaky.
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