Chimney

A Kennett Square man who fell down a chimney and became stuck overnight has been arrested on burglary charges. Court documents and state police at Avondale gave this account of the incident, which happened at a building on Lake Road in London Grove: Belarmino Bedoya-Alvarez, 25, of the Center Square Apartments, fell 20 feet down the chimney from a garage roof after 4:30 p.m. April 3. No one heard his cries for help until an employee arrived...

It was an absolutely awful way to die. And ironic as it gets. Workers knocking down a chimney in an ages-closed, theft-prevention business on North 12th Street discovered the remains of a man who had died inside the chimney. He apparently had entered it so he could burglarize the place. It's possible, police said yesterday, that the skeletal remains had been crouched there for five years. If it's who police suspect it is - he had a welfare card inside his pocket - then the bones found belonged to a known burglar with numerous Social Security numbers, birth dates and aliases.

Here's some advice from the readers that relates to two household problems discussed in this space recently: Summertime chimney odors: "We have had this problem for years. During hot, humid days, heavier, denser air is drawn down the chimney, causing the odor of a sooty fire to seep into the room. "An inexpensive way to combat the problem is to burn one or two scented candles in the fireplace. The warmth from the candles creates an updraft in the chimney and draws the smell out of the room.

While you watch the logs burn in your fireplace for warmth or cheer, remember that fire could kill you if you haven't been careful about your chimney liner. This is especially important throughout Bucks County, where there are many old stone farmhouses, says Genevieve Bures, a private fire investigator, and Lower Makefield Township resident Mark Schaub, who runs a company called Chimney-Savers. The big danger, Bures says, is pyrolysis, the decomposing or drying out of the wood in the supporting structure of the house next to the chimney.

Alberto Carrera found out the hard way yesterday that getting out of a chimney requires more than Santa Claus' method of laying a finger aside of the nose and giving a nod. Carrera, a good deal skinnier than Santa, managed to get himself stuck in the chimney of Philadelphia Auctioneer's in the 200 block of West Laurel Street in Fishtown, according to police. It took firefighters working with picks and axes about a half-hour to get Carrera out, police said. Carrera, 22, who gave police two addresses before identifying himself as a street person, was detained under police guard at James C. Giuffre Medical Center for observation.

Question: I've seen a number of articles recently about the importance of getting the chimney swept every so often - one writer counseled doing it annually. Is that necessary if you burn only Duraflame logs, or perhaps all that wax makes it more important? What if you have a gas fireplace? Answer: If you have a gas fireplace insert, annual chimney sweeping isn't necessary because it doesn't produce the creosote that would coat the inside of the chimney. And if you have a ventless gas fireplace, there's no need for sweeping at all because the damper is left open only a crack.

Question: I have a fireplace with a glass-door insert. With the doors open and a roaring fire, everything is fine, but as the fire burns down I get the smell of smoke in the room. I've tried cracking open the window a little, but it doesn't seem to help. I had an extension put on the chimney, but this didn't help. I would have to close the doors, or keep the fire roaring to avoid smoke. I've been told it could be wind, but it happens all the time. Any suggestions? Answer: Even if a chimney has been thoroughly cleaned, there often can be enough residual creosote - unburned fuel deposited on the insides of the chimney - to capture moisture from the air. That is the likely cause of the odor.

The first thing the manager of Philadelphia Auctioneers heard at work this morning was moaning and groaning in the chimney. The first call Michael DeLong made this morning was to police. By 8:30 a.m., police and firemen had pulled Alberto Carrera from the chimney in Northern Liberties, where he had been trapped for 13 hours. Carrera, 22, was missing his shoes, but he was conscious. He asked for water, and told rescuers he had climbed down the chimney of the business at 202 W. Laurel St. at 7 p.m. Carrera did not divulge any reason for climbing down the chimney, but he apparently was not trying to be Santa Claus in May. Police said they are investigating whether to charge Carrera with burglary.

Some would-be chimney sweepers evidently are cleaning out more than chimneys, according to police in Delaware County. An unknown man arrived at a home on Northwood Road on Monday, offering to clean a chimney for $40, police said. But when the man asked to use the bathroom and spent an unusually long time in there, the homeowner became suspicious. After the man left, the homeowner checked the master bedroom and discovered that three rings were missing from a drawer. Springfield Township police said they also have investigated two similar incidents.

Police are expected to file charges today against a 22-year-old man who was found trapped in a chimney after 13 hours. The first thing Michael DeLong, manager of Philadelphia Auctioneers, heard at work yesterday morning were moans and groans coming from the chimney. DeLong called police. By 8:30 a.m., police and firefighters had pulled Alberto Carrera from the chimney in the city's Northern Liberties section. Carrera, a self-described "street person," was missing his shoes, but he was conscious.

Some would-be chimney sweepers evidently are cleaning out more than chimneys, according to police in Delaware County. An unknown man arrived at a home on Northwood Road on Monday, offering to clean a chimney for $40, police said. But when the man asked to use the bathroom and spent an unusually long time in there, the homeowner became suspicious. After the man left, the homeowner checked the master bedroom and discovered that three rings were missing from a drawer. Springfield Township police said they also have investigated two similar incidents.

This winter has been a shifty one. One day is fair, the next, well, not particularly wintry. If the weather trends continue, spring cleanup this year should be a snap. No storm damage to worry about, for one thing; no ice dams on the roof, no clogged gutters, no overtaxed furnaces trying to keep up. Unless you've put off routine upkeep for eons, the fixes your house does require may not be as expensive as they might have been. So what you should be doing now is planning maintenance and repair tasks and setting priorities.

Question: What is the most efficient way to run a refrigerator in an unheated garage? My father unplugs his refrigerator and leaves the door open. Unfortunately, at that point all the liquids tend to freeze. Answer: A garage does present some special issues for refrigerators. To avoid the premature compressor failure that can result from oil thickened by colder temperatures (and cause untimely fridge death), the air surrounding a refrigerator must be 55 degrees or higher.

Question: We had a fireplace built in our living room in 1976. It is a grayish brick, but the bricks are not flat; they're bumpy to look more like stone. We have not used the fireplace in many years. Now the bricks at the bottom of the fireplace are starting to disintegrate. The outside surface is crumbling into a white powder, and the inside seems to be made of this white powder also. What is causing this, and what can we do to prevent it happening to all the bricks? Answer : It's likely moisture is causing the bricks to crumble.

Question : We bought a house last year that had a beautiful vented gas fireplace. However, we were told it was in need of a new chimney flue. Because replacing the flue was so expensive, we were told by chimney people that we could seal off the chimney and change to a ventless gas-log set. When I went to a gas fireplace store, they told us that it was unsafe to put ventless logs in a fireplace with the flue sealed off and that we would have to open the window slightly when using the ventless logs.

A couple of weeks back, I responded to a question about dampness near a first-floor fireplace that our reader thought might be related to a recurring leak in the ceiling of the room above. Readers have this advice to offer: From Joe Ponessa, professor emeritus at Rutgers University and building-science consultant: If the chimney also contains the flue for a furnace or boiler, the other possible source of the water is a blockage in the flue. Squirrel nests are one likely cause of blockages.

Here's some advice from the readers that relates to two household problems discussed in this space recently: Summertime chimney odors: "We have had this problem for years. During hot, humid days, heavier, denser air is drawn down the chimney, causing the odor of a sooty fire to seep into the room. "An inexpensive way to combat the problem is to burn one or two scented candles in the fireplace. The warmth from the candles creates an updraft in the chimney and draws the smell out of the room.

IT SNOWED the other morning, and my 3-year-old son, Little Solomon, ran into our bedroom (without knocking, of course) to happily announce that Santa was on his way. I was groggy, but his pronouncement forced me into a pivotal fatherhood moment - one that I'd already faced with his big sister Eve. "Son, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but . . . " My wife, LaVeta, chimed in. "Santa Claus is right in front of you, lying in bed....

Question: I have a fireplace with a glass-door insert. With the doors open and a roaring fire, everything is fine, but as the fire burns down I get the smell of smoke in the room. I've tried cracking open the window a little, but it doesn't seem to help. I had an extension put on the chimney, but this didn't help. I would have to close the doors, or keep the fire roaring to avoid smoke. I've been told it could be wind, but it happens all the time. Any suggestions? Answer: Even if a chimney has been thoroughly cleaned, there often can be enough residual creosote - unburned fuel deposited on the insides of the chimney - to capture moisture from the air. That is the likely cause of the odor.