What should I do if my chimney catches fire?
A roaring sound from the chimney, sparks from the pot and dense smoke are a chimney fire. It is a 999 call first and always, and everything else is what you do while waiting.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 10 min
- Read
- 5 min
- Safety
- restricted
Short answer
Ring 999 and ask for the fire service. Get everyone out of the house. If it is safe and takes seconds, close the stove's air controls or put the fireguard up, and move furniture, rugs and anything flammable away from the fireplace. Then leave. Do not put water on it, do not go on the roof, and warn the neighbours in an adjoining property.
Chimney fires are the tar and creosote lining the flue igniting. They announce themselves with a loud roaring or sucking noise, sparks and flames from the chimney pot, dense dark smoke, and a smell that is unmistakably not the fire in the grate. The reason they must never be tackled by the householder is what happens out of sight: the heat cracks the flue liner and passes into the roof timbers, so a fire that looks extinguished in the grate can already be burning in the loft.
Safety
What you'll need
- A phone — 999
- A way out for everyone in the house
- A fireguard, if it is already to hand
- A carbon monoxide and smoke alarm, tested in advance
Step by step
- Ring 999 and ask for the fire service.Say it is a chimney fire and give the address. Do this first, before anything else, even if it seems to be dying down. There is no version of this where waiting to see helps.
- Get everyone out of the house.Including pets if that can be done without delay. Close doors behind you as you go — a closed door buys many minutes against fire spread.
- Shut the stove's air controls only if it takes seconds.Closing the air supply on a stove starves the fire. Do it on the way past, not as a project, and never open the stove door to look inside.
- Move what is near the fireplace away.Rugs, furniture, curtains, the log basket. Again, only if you can do it in the time it takes to leave the room, and only if there is no smoke in the room.
- Warn the neighbours if you share a wall or a stack.In a terrace or semi the flues often share a stack, and a chimney fire can affect the adjoining property. Knock and tell them, and tell the fire service the property is attached.
- Do not pour water on it.Water hitting a flue at over 1,000 degrees flashes to steam and expands violently, which can crack the flue, blow soot and burning material into the room, and scald you badly.
- Do not go onto the roof or up a ladder.Nothing useful can be done from up there and it puts you above a fire with a single way down. Leave the roof entirely to the fire service.
- Stay out until the fire service says the house is safe.They will check the loft and the flue with a thermal camera, which is the whole point — the visible fire is not the risk, the concealed one is.
- Do not light the fire again until the chimney has been inspected.A chimney fire almost always damages the flue or the liner. It needs sweeping and a full inspection, usually with a camera, by a registered sweep before any further use.
- Report it to the insurer and find the sweep certificate.Most policies require the chimney to have been swept as recommended. Report the incident promptly and dig out the last certificate before you make the call.
Tips
- The most reliable prevention is annual sweeping and dry fuel. Wet or unseasoned wood produces several times the tar of properly seasoned wood, and tar is what burns.
- Overnight slumbering of a stove with the air shut right down is a major cause of creosote build-up. Burn hot and short rather than low and long.
- A chimney fire in one flue can affect the flue next door in a shared stack. If a neighbour has one, ring 999 as well and do not use your own fire.
- Fit a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide alarm in the room with the fire, and a smoke alarm on the landing. In a chimney fire they are what wakes people up.
Common mistakes
- Trying to deal with it before ringing 999 — The fire in the flue is not the danger — the heat passing into the roof structure is, and only the fire service can see that. Every minute spent trying is a minute the roof timbers are heating.
- Throwing water down the chimney from above or into the grate — The steam expansion can crack the flue and blast burning soot into the room. It is also a fall risk from the roof and a serious scald risk in the room.
- Relighting the fire the next day because it looks fine — The liner will very often be cracked, and the next fire vents combustion gases and carbon monoxide directly into the structure. Nothing is lit again until a sweep has inspected it.
If it doesn't work
Roaring or sucking noise from the chimney
Cause: Deposits in the flue burning — Fix: Ring 999. Get out. Do not investigate further.
Sparks or flame from the chimney pot
Cause: An active chimney fire, visible from outside — Fix: Ring 999, evacuate, and warn any attached neighbour. Watch the roof from a safe distance and tell the crew what you have seen.
Smell of burning after the fire is out, hours later
Cause: Concealed fire in the roof structure or in a beam built into the stack — Fix: Ring 999 again. Concealed fires reignite; this is exactly the scenario the fire service checks for and it is not something to sit out.
Questions people ask
Should I close the stove door or open it?
Closed, with the air controls shut, if you can do that in the seconds it takes to leave the room. Opening the door feeds the fire and lets smoke and burning material into the room.
Will insurance cover a chimney fire?
Fire is a standard peril, but insurers commonly require evidence that the chimney was swept at the recommended frequency and that the correct fuel was used. Keep sweep certificates and burn dry, authorised fuel.
How do I know it was a chimney fire and not just a hot fire?
The noise is the giveaway — a sustained roar or a sound like a distant jet. Dense dark smoke, sparks from the pot and a very hot chimney breast confirm it. If you are unsure, treat it as one and ring 999.