RESPONSIBILITY

SMOKE IN YOUR EYES

ABOVE: A sight which warms the heart – and the hands; a crackling log fire blazing with warmth. RIGHT: Wood burning stoves are efficient at heating large areas – but did you know that annual maintenance of the stove and flue are important?

Centurion, Midrand and Pretoria are places which bristle, as do Underberg and Himeville in the Drakensberg midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. They bristle with massive lightning conductors because of the incidence of electrical storms – and the close proximity of a host of thatched roofs, either the main dwelling or the more common recreational lapa and braai area. Those conductors are there to prevent lightning striking and setting the thatch ablaze.

Elsewhere in the country – such as the Western Cape with its winter rather than summer rainfall – thunderstorms accompanied by fierce lightning displays are far less common. But it doesn’t mean that the fire risk is any lower – because on those cold, wet winter nights people cosy up to wood burning stoves, relying on them for warmth. And there’s always the ‘binnebraai’ for weekend social gatherings or simply a casual chop-&-dop on a Tuesday – because you can!

Shine a powerful torch up your chimney or flue and you might be surprised at what you see.

FIRE CAN BE DEVASTATING. NEWSPAPER HEADLINES ANNUALLY DOCUMENT MASSIVE LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY DUE TO SHACK FIRES CAUSED BY EXPLODING PRIMUS STOVES, UNATTENDED CANDLES OR PARAFFIN LAMPS. BUT HAVE YOU GIVEN ANY CONSIDERATION TO YOUR FIRE RISK?

And, to mangle the oft-quoted metaphor, where there’s fire – there’s smoke. Smoke has to be extracted or vented because of the dangerous noxious gases which are given off. One of the most lethal of these is carbon monoxide, an odourless and colourless gas that can cause serious illness or even death if it builds up.

Gas aside, the soot and ash can adhere to the inside of the flue as the smoke is being vented. This ash and soot residue can stick to or line the mortar, brick or metal pipe in the form of creosote. Ever had little bits of soot come rustling down the chimney or pipe? It’s not a sign of an unscheduled visit from Santa but rather an indicator that your pipe or chimney needs attention – pronto! Shine a powerful torch up your chimney or flue and you might be surprised at what you see. So how much thought have you given to the safety of your chimney flue – either for the gas, coal or wood-burning stove or binnebraai? Not meaning to sound like a Chappie’s bubblegum wrapper but did you know that residue build-up on the inside of the flue can itself cause fire? Creosote can eventually catch alight – and result in not just permanent damage to the masonry or brick chimney but it can set the whole house ablaze. Blocked and clogged flues or chimneys are not only less effective at smoke extraction (and make the room smokier) but they are downright dangerous because of possible carbon monoxide build-up inside the room or home and hence potential poisoning and death. It’s scary but true!

Chimney sweeping remains a very necessary precaution even though we are not living in Victorian England, the time when author Charles Dickens had desperately poor young street urchin Oliver Twist almost apprenticed to a chimney sweep. (See sidebar.)

And it’s not just residue buildup the homeowner should worry about. Often in the case of good

Smoke signals – a chimney or flue needs to vent smoke effectively, and needs to be checked for particulate build up.

old bricks and mortar chimneys, birds like to make safe nests in them. The resultant debris is always a potential fire risk.

So before the mercury plunges any further: if you have either a wood burning stove, gas stove, fireplace or binnebraai – give it a visual check yourself. If creosote residue is obvious to the eye, consult a chimney sweep and get the flue cleaned.

Nowadays chimney sweeps are ultra-professional and rely on the marvels of modern technology – like effective high-pressure vacuum cleaners to ensure that no fine dust and ash dirties the home.

ABOVE: A sight which should make any homeowner’s blood run cold: creosote residue clogging the pipe!

Chimney sweeping became a profession with the increasing use of coal for domestic heating. DID YOU KNOW

To this day, in September an annual chimney sweeps festival is held in Santa Maria Maggiore, a village in Piedmont, Italy. Meanwhile in Rochester in Kent, a three day festival is held at the onset of Spring and chimney sweeps parade as part of the commemoration – since it was the one day a year sweeps were given off work. The Rochester Sweeps Festival dates back 400 years!

In an article in the BBC History magazine, Eugene Byrne reported that “the familiar sweep’s circular brush on the end of flexible rods, which could be screwed together and pushed up the flue, was invented in the 1820s by London engineer Joseph Glass for the express purpose of keeping boys out of chimneys.”

Chimney sweeping became a profession with the increasing use of coal for domestic heating. Brick chimneys for wood fires were usually wide enough for an adult to clean, but coal requires a narrower flue. The poorly regulated urban expansion that began before the industrial revolution meant a proliferation of buildings with flues full of turns and angles – and these had to be cleaned to prevent chimney fires. This was best done by a small person with a brush for soot, and a metal scraper for harder tarry deposits. – BBC History, 2011

CHEERS BROUGHT TO YOU BY DON’T MISS THE next issue!

W W W.TOPSATSPAR.CO.ZA

Celebrating spirited women in South Africa: Making gin, brandy and more Wine & alchemy: Making the whole better than the sum of its many parts Glass versus can: What the beer experts say

Congratulations to previous issue’s winner

QUICK & EASY FOOD COOKBOOK Belinda Viret from Cape Town