GB2266238A - A chimney fire extinguishing system - Google Patents

Abstract

A chimney-fire extinguishing system comprises a nozzle 3 located in situ within the chimney flue 2, adjacent the top of the flue, and connected by a pipe 4 to a supply 5 of an extinguishing medium. The supply 5 of extinguishing medium is located remote from the chimney flue. The nozzle 3 includes a spray generating means adapted to discharge the extinguishing medium as a fine spray which in the event of a fire can be evaporated by the fire to form steam to smother the fire. <IMAGE>

Description

A CHIMNEY-FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM The invention relates to a chimney-fire extinguishing system, and to a method of extinguishing chimney fires.

Fireplaces utilising solid fuel fires are commonly used in many households. Chimney fires are a frequent hazard. Chimney fires occur when soot deposits in the chimney flue ignite. Chimney fires are dangerous because unless controlled they can spread to other parts of the building fabric of the house. It is difficult to control chimney fires because they usually occur when the fire in the fireplace is burning at a high temperature which provides a strong draught through the chimney flue, which in turn feeds the chimney fire with oxygen. It has proved unsatisfactory to extinguish chimney fires from below. For example, if water is applied to the fireplace clouds of smoke, ash and steam will rise from the fire and can cause considerable smoke damage within the house.The most effective way of extinguishing a chimney fire is to apply water downwardly from the top of the chimney but it is considered dangerous for fire-fighters to climb onto a roof during the course of a chimney fire as there is a risk that the fire may have damaged the roof members.

U.S. Patent Specification No. 5163516 discloses a chimney safety system in which extinguishing compounds are stored in a reservoir located on a platform at the top of a chimney.

European Patent Specification No. 0 294 356 discloses an integral sprinkler system in which a ring shaped water reservoir is built into the chimney stack. The reservoir is located at the top of the chimney and is activated to discharge water directly onto the chimney fire.

European Patent Specification No. 0 229 739 also discloses a chimneyfire extinguishing system in which the reservoir is located in the chimney. The aforementioned systems all disclose devices in which a reservoir is located within the chimney flue or chimney stack and fire extinguishing substances are discharged from the reservoir to douse the fire. A disadvantage of these systems is that firstly the reservoir must be incorporated into the chimney flue or stack which can require an expensive building operation and secondly, the chimney fire is directly attacked by the fire extinguishing system which can lead to the generation of clouds of smoke and ash which can cause smoke damage.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, safe and effective system and method for extinguishing chimney fires from above in which the risk of smoke damage to the house caused by fire extinguishing compounds is reduced. It is a further object of the invention to provide a chimney-fire extinguishing system that can be easily installed.

According to the invention there is provided a chimney-fire extinguishing system comprising a nozzle located in situ within the chimney flue, adjacent the top of the flue, and connected by a pipe to a supply of an extinguishing medium, the supply of extinguishing medium being located remote from the chimney flue and the nozzle including spray generating means adapted to discharge the extinguishing medium as a fine spray which in the event of a fire can be evaporated by the fire to form steam to smother the fire.

Suitably, the extinguishing medium is water.

Preferably, the water supply means is a pump.

More preferably, the pump is connected to the mains supply.

Some embodiments of the invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in cross-section showing one embodiment of the chimney-fire extinguishing system, connection of the pump to the water mains supply being shown in broken lines; Figure 2, is a diagrammatic illustration showing an arrangement for providing the system of the invention in a plurality of chimney flues.

Referring to Figure 1 of the invention this shows a typical house chimney 1 having a flue 2. The device of the invention comprises a spray nozzle 3 located within the flue 2, preferably centrally of the flue. The nozzle 3 may be made from metal, such as copper or from a ceramics material which is resistant to corrosion. The mouth of the nozzle 3 is preferably fluted to resist build-up of soot and tar.

The nozzle 3 is connected by a pipe 4 to water supply means 5 remote from the chimney 5. The water supply means 5 is usually in the form of a pump. The pipe 4 may be made from copper or other suitable material. A copper pipe of about 8 mm internal diameter is found to be suitable. The pipe 4 may be attached to the flue 2 or to the chimney 1 by brackets 6, or the like.

The end of the pipe 4, attached to the nozzle 3 is inserted down the top of the chimney flue 2, and preferably is disposed co-axially of the flue.

The depth to which the nozzle 3 extends down the flue depends upon the diameter of the flue 2. Preferably, this depth is equal to the internal diameter of the flue plus 50%. For example, if the flue has an internal diameter of 9 inches the nozzle 3 is located 14 inches down the flue. Likewise if the flue has an internal diameter of 6 inches the nozzle 3 is located 9 inches down the flue.

The pump 5 is located remote from the chimney 5 so that no modification of the chimney flue or stack 2 is required to accommodate the pump. Therefore, the system of the invention is suitable for installation in new or existing chimneys. The pump 5 may be located inside or outside of the house. For example the pump 5 suitably could be located within the kitchen or another suitable location such as an outhouse.

In an alternative arrangement, the portion of the pipe 4 which is inserted down the flue and which is in contact with the exterior of the flue (that is those portions of the pipe 4 which may be subjected to heat) may be made from copper or other suitable heat-resistant material, but the remainder of the pipe 4 which is not subjected to heat may be made from a suitable plastics hosing.

Suitably the pump 5 is a hand-operated hydraulic pump.

Alternatively, the pump 5 may be an electrically operated pump. The pump 5 may include a static water container 7 or, alternatively, it may be connected to the mains 13. With this arrangement a stop-cock 14 is placed in line before the pump because normally the pipe 4 is kept empty of water to prevent freezing. Suitably, the water container 7 may contain about 4 gallons of water.

If a fire occurs in the chimney flue 2, the pump 5 is activated to pump water through the pipe 4. The water emits from the nozzle 3 under pressure in the form of a fine spray. The pressure is sufficient to dislodge any soot blocking the nozzle 3.

The fine spray of water emitting from the nozzle 3 is heated by the fire and forms a steam blanket within the chimney flue which prevents a draught through the chimney and eventually starves the chimney fire of oxygen. In this way, the chimney fire is quickly extinguished by the steam blanket without causing smoke damage to the interior of the house as is the case with many existing fire extinguishing systems.

Where a house has two or more fireplaces in operation, then each fireplace may be provided with a nozzle 3 and pipe 4. In this case, the end of the pipe 4 remote from the chimney maybe fitted with a quick-change coupling (not shown) so that the pump 5 may quickly be attached to the appropriate pipe 4.

Figure 2 illustrates an arrangement of the invention for use with a plurality of chimneys, in this case three. Each chimney is provided with a nozzle 3 and pipe 4 as described in relation to Figure 1.

However, each pipe 4 is connected to a common supply pipe 9. A stop-cock 8 is located between each pipe 4 and the supply pipe 9 and in the normal course of events the stop-cocks 8 are closed. For example, each stop cock 8 could be located on the chimney breast of the chimney to which it is connected. The common supply pipe 9 leads to a supply pump 10, for example an electrically-operated pump, which in turn is connected by a pipe 11 to the mains supply 13. The pump 10 maybe isolated by a stop-cock 12. With this arrangement when a fire occurs in one of the chimneys, the stop-cock 12 is open, the pump 10 is activated and the respective stop-cock 8 is opened to direct water to the nozzle 3 within the flue 2, to extinguish the fire as described above.

In yet a further variation of the arrangement shown in Figure 2, each pipe 4, terminates in a quick-change coupling to which a hand-operated pump and container 7, as described in Figure 1, may be connected as desired.

Claims (5)

1. A chimney-fire extinguishing system comprising a nozzle located in situ within the chimney flue, adjacent the top of the flue, and connected by a pipe to a supply of an extinguishing medium, the supply of extinguishing medium being located remote from the chimney flue and the nozzle including spray generating means adapted to discharge the extinguishing medium as a fine spray which in the event of a fire can be evaporated by the fire to form steam to smother the fire.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extinguishing medium is water.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the water supply means is a pump.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the pump is connected to the mains supply.

5. A chimney-fire extinguishing system, substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.