My uncle insisted I should never use water on a hot creosote fire, even a small one.

He was right, because last winter I saw a guy in Cincinnati try it on a smoldering flue and the steam explosion cracked the clay liner. Anyone else have a relative with a rule that saved your bacon?

4 comments

4 Comments

piper_green1mo ago

My grandpa in Toledo always said a bucket of water was fine for chimney fires, said he did it for forty years. He argued the steam explosion thing is overblown if you catch it early and just use a little. Honestly, I've doused a few small flare-ups myself and the worst that happened was a mess to clean. Sometimes the old warnings are just fear talking.

verab281mo ago

Honestly, that's how people get hurt.

betty_scott183d ago

My uncle in Akron said the same thing for years.

rose_hart313d ago

Wait, so Piper, when you say you've doused small flare-ups, how exactly did you do it? Did you just toss a cup of water up the flue, or use a spray bottle? I'm trying to picture the method that didn't cause a problem for you.