By Trevor Greenway

Brad Stewart thought he did everything right when disposing of ashes from his wood stove. 

But when his shed went up in flames a full four days later on Jan. 9, he wasn’t so sure. 

“The whole thing went up really fast,” said Stewart, showing the Low Down the front of his wooden shed – the cedar shack now a blackened charcoal. “This happened at seven in the morning. If it would have happened at six, we would have been screwed,” he added, explaining that nobody in the house would have been awake at 6 a.m. and the shed would have burned down. 

The Chelsea resident, who lives just off Scott Road, had scooped out the ashes from his stove on Jan. 5, put them in “the metal bucket that everyone has” and put it out in the snow for two full days. The ashes were then transferred to his brown compost bin, which was stationed in front of a small woodshed that houses gas, propane tanks and other flammables. At 7 a.m. on Jan. 9 – four full days after being removed from the stove – the ashes reignited and lit the bin on fire, which quickly spread to the shed, sending flames up the front of the shack. 

“It was going up, so I just completely ‘hammered’ it with the fire extinguisher,” said Stewart, who said he was standing in four feet of snow, barefoot and shirtless, as he emptied a full fire extinguisher within a dozen or so seconds. He managed to quell the flames, but wasn’t sure whether or not the ashes would flare up again, so he called the fire department.  

Stewart said that, in retrospect, he wishes he wouldn’t have stopped to put on pants when his daughter alerted him to the fire. He was in bed and said he “stopped to think about what the neighbours would think” if he ran out naked. He didn’t bother with a shirt or boots. 

“The things that go through your head, which all matter, but compared to the loss of a forest or your house or your children, does having your feet cold or being naked matter?” he said. “What would happen if that five or 10 seconds is what it would have taken to not get there in time?” 

Stewart said he’s been going over his response to the fire in his head and has noted several mistakes he made along the way – like not calling 911 immediately because he thought he could get the fire under control himself. He said that firefighters used heat meters to determine that the wood inside the shed was still hot and could reignite. 

“See how that’s charcoal?” said Stewart, peeling pieces off the shed. “It may not look like it’s on fire, but it’s charcoal.”

Third ash fire this month

According to Chelsea Fire Chief Charles Éthier, Stewart’s fire is the third such blaze this month throughout the municipality – fires all caused by ashes reigniting in compost bins.

Last February, a home was razed on Carman Road after a container of ashes ignited on the deck in the early morning. The home was completely destroyed. 

Éthier said that most residents may not know just how long ashes should sit before being transferred to a compost bin. 

“Ashes should be stored outside, on an incombustible surface, one metre from any combustible material, in a metal container with a lid for at least seven days,” said Éthier. “In Chelsea and in our MRC it’s required to have the chimney cleaned and inspected by a certified professional at least once a year.” Éthier added that it’s important for residents to call 911 immediately, whether or not they think they can control a fire. He didn’t have average response times for the department but admitted that running a rural, volunteer fire department is a challenge. 

“Being a part-time fire service, that’s one of the challenges because everyone leaves from home or work to come to the fire station and then proceed to the address in question,” he said. “That’s why it’s important for citizens to call 911 immediately when they discover something – it gives us more time to mobilize.”

Éthier reminded residents that it is required for every household in the MRC des Collines to carry a red ABC five-pound fire extinguisher and noted that it cannot be “two small ones that equal five pounds.”

More fire safety information is available at the following link: https://shorturl.at/lIN12.