On Tuesday morning, when I got up to start the fire, the temperature was low, both indoors and out. I kept the damper open on the stove for a long time, making a nice hot fire to warm the house. Before I left for work, I noticed that the living room seemed a little smoky. I had just closed the damper, so I assumed the stove had stopped drawing for a moment. I adjusted the wood and the damper at the stove, and then opened the front door for a minute to bring in some fresh air. I thought I had solved the problem and didn't notice anything else, so I said goodbye to the girls and went out. Shortly thereafter the girls left, too, EDO to school and VSO to Center Creek for a little skiing. When VSO returned to the house an hour or two later, she noticed more smoke in the living room. Upon examination, she found a smoldering chunk of cottonwood on the wood box. Evidently the intense heat from the stove nearby had caused it to spontaneously combust. We've heated with wood for more than a decade, but we've never had that happen. The cottonwood chunk was next to the stove, but not touching it. It was stacked with a bunch of other wood, mostly Douglas fir or juniper, that showed no signs of meltdown. Ultimately there was no harm done, but it was a little scary. The house is mostly made of brick, so it probably would not have burned down, but there is plenty of other stuff—windows, furniture, floors—that could have been damaged if the burning had spread.
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