# Burning Diapers + Creosote Buildup = Chimney Fire



## Spinny (Dec 17, 2013)

Ironically, I'm sitting here reading on hearth.com at home and I get a knock on the door. I look over to see a headlamp.....amish. I open the door to the amish neighbor boy who is out of breath because he just sprinted a quarter mile with a message. "Our house is on fire! Please call someone!" 

So as I call 911 I tell the kid to go to the garage and get in my truck and I grab a couple extinguishers and the two chimfex chimney fire suppressors that I have by my furnace. Get their to find flames engulfing everything around the chimney. I know enough to know exactly whats happening. A crap ton of creosote is going crazy. I run inside. There is smoke in the house. Not good. They were running two different stoves. Lucky me I had a chimfex stick for each one. I threw them in and knew there wasn't much else to do besides go outside to watch and wait and see if it got big enough to ignite the house or crack the flue and escape through there. The snow on the roof may have saved the house because the flames were completely engulfing the chimney.

Thankfully the flames died down pretty quickly just as the cops and volunteer FD started to arrive. After everything dies down and the FD do their thing cleaning the chimney the chief and another firefighter come over to talk to the amish owner. I overhear the chief explaining that his guys found diapers in the stove. I never considered it before but I heard him explaining how not only the diaper itself but the urine can create a dangerous situation. Who would have thunk to burn the baby sh!t in the stove. Pure genius. 

Anyway, the lessons are don't burn wet wood, clean your chimney, don't burn diapers, and you will never regret spending the money on a good supply of chimney fire suppressant products and even fire extinguishers. I may have saved my neighbors house tonight. Hard tellin.


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## Elusive (Dec 17, 2013)

Nice job!


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## Seasoned Oak (Dec 17, 2013)

I agree "pure genius"     Its a wonder you didnt smell that diaper smoke from a quarter mile.


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## Bigfoot (Dec 18, 2013)

you da man  great fast work & thinking...wow, that must of been crazy........


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## Soundchasm (Dec 18, 2013)

What a great story.  The emergency must have made your noggin' fire on all cylinders, and you were exactly what the doctor ordered.  Their luck was where your preparation met its opportunity.  You're going to be a legend in that neck of the woods.


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## PA. Woodsman (Dec 18, 2013)

Wow, you certainly get our "hero's award" for the year! Great job, you did an outstanding job saving their house.....

Burning diapers....I just really have a hard time wrapping my mind around that......


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## Spinny (Dec 18, 2013)

PA. Woodsman said:


> Wow, you certainly get our "hero's award" for the year! Great job, you did an outstanding job saving their house.....
> 
> Burning diapers....I just really have a hard time wrapping my mind around that......



The sad thing is this Amish family are a constant disaster waiting to happen. They just don't learn. They are poor as dirt and have no common sense. In the past year and a half they have been hit by a vehicle on their buggy twice. The first time they lost two of their children. The last time, which was just a couple weeks ago the father ended up with a head injury and broken pelvis. He was still using a walker last night. Yet they will still drive right down the road at night with practically no lighting on their buggy and down the highway in the morning at sunrise when vehicles cant see them due to the sun. Their kids play on the road more than they play in the yard. Drives me nuts because one of these days I'm going to be the one that doesn't see them and has to live with killing someone because of their stupidity. 

They will continue to burn wet wood and who knows what else. Oh, while I'm ranting, this summer while at the dentist (where my wife works) he backed his buggy into my wife's car causing more damage than you can imagine. They are the dirtiest people I know. Just Saturday the little boys showed up with some sausage. Well, they use the poor dog to pull them over on the sled. With the sausage in a bag on the sled. As my wife says hello she sees one of the boys picking up the bag of sausage off the ground. It was a used bag not even tied shut and already had a hole in it. You just say thanks and throw it away unless you want to get sick because it was made it unclean, disgusting conditions, and then stored improperly. Hygiene isn't' in their vocabulary. I could go on but I better stop.


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## Seasoned Oak (Dec 18, 2013)

Well at least you could say they are living a sustainable lifestyle.


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## Spinny (Dec 18, 2013)

Seasoned Oak said:


> Well at least you could say they are living a sustainable lifestyle.



What about me living down wind getting the lovely burnt poop smoke?


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## Paul L (Dec 18, 2013)

My Amish neighbors _burn everything ... _They have a small child and come to think of it, I haven't seen an outdoor fire this winter.  I'm not up for an inspection, though


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## BillLion (Dec 18, 2013)

As you describe your neighbors and their plight I just feel sad for them.

Good for you for helping them out. I sure hope they learn...


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## adrpga498 (Dec 18, 2013)

Wow redefines the saying " Sht happens" Great work on your part.


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## tsquini (Dec 18, 2013)

Unseasoned baby turds will do it every time!


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## BCC_Burner (Dec 18, 2013)

tsquini said:


> Unseasoned baby terds will do it every time!



They do have the advantage of seasoning quickly, although they don't split well.


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## red oak (Dec 18, 2013)

PA. Woodsman said:


> Wow, you certainly get our "hero's award" for the year! Great job, you did an outstanding job saving their house.....
> 
> Burning diapers....I just really have a hard time wrapping my mind around that......




After our first child was born my in-laws came to babysit.  I came home from work to a pretty putrid smell and my FIL throwing the dirty diapers into my stove.  It's probably more common than we think.


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## loadstarken (Dec 18, 2013)

Awesome job helping them with the fire! 

I don't know much about the Amish and I always thought that they stuck together and help each other out?   Have they been shunned by the Amish community? 

Also curious. . . . . were the diapers cloth or the store bought disposable ones? 

My neighbors across the street constantly burn their trash in their smoke dragon and smoke out the neighborhood.


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 18, 2013)

This thread sort of stinks.  

Good for you saving that family, no matter what their living conditions are like. They are still human beings.


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## BrotherBart (Dec 18, 2013)

OK. This one has run its course.

Good for you helping them and for giving us the straight poop on what happened.


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