Expert: James Ball - 12/4/2008

Question
Three days ago we built a fire and the damper wasn't all the way open so the smoke got real bad. We had to actually put the fire out with an extinguisher and remove the burning log from the house. We got the house ventilated and the fireplace cleaned out, but now, only in the room with the fireplace, it smells of sut. Is this normal, or is there something we can do to have our room fresh smelling again?

Answer
Hello Harvey, this is not your typical way to have a fire, sorry. Did you close the damper after the fire was out? if so and you still smell the soot you may have a negative pressure, put your hand inside the fireplace and if you feel cold air coming down then you do.
I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep (www.csia.org, there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have.
James