chimney fire and stove repair/safety

Hi there,

the chimney in our recently purchased house went on fire the other night! Drama.

All good, but the fire service had to put the stove outside and remove the connecting pipes in order to get access to the chimney to put out the fire.
They broke the fire board to get to the chimney.

Please see photo attached, and can anyone tell me....
can i get the 'fire board' thing replaced, and the fire service thought the pipes for the multifuel stove only went up a couple of feet in to the chimney, should there not be a pipe the whole way up??

Basically, the pipe connections were not sealed properly and the cement had come away, (the fire man literally lifted the stove and the pipes didn't come-with so they weren't attached very well) apparently very dangerous, and possibly why my head is lifting now.

Too many questions, but now i'm paranoid about CO2 poisoning!

so, to recap;
1. can i get the fire board replaced and is it a big job?
2. should there be a pipe going all the way up the chimney? (and if so is that a big job to get fitted?
3. which is safer : pipes from top or back of stove going up the chimney?
4. my CO2 detector says 0 but could there be co2 still in the house?


Sorry for rambling and thanks in advance for any input,

Gem

1.Yes then No
2.Not necessarily.
3.Both Safe
4.Probably not.

Sorry but I can't access any pictures, Gem.
Anyway, from your description and please correct me......
The register plate that closes off the chimney opening, but has a hole for the flue pipe to pass through, is destroyed - correct?
That's easily replaced - I make them from 3mm mild steel plate, secured with steel angle.
Next, the flue pipe pokes into the chimney void? That is essentially ok so
long as the chimney construction is sound......however, now we come to the real issue.
When sweeping the flue, a 5" brush is needed to pass up the flue pipe, through the wood burner. However, when this reaches the flue void (typically 16") the brush just rattles about and clears little soot away - hence the chimney fire.
The answer to that one is to have the flue lined.......failing that, sweeping from the top is really the only way to do it. Of course that leaves a pile of soot on the top of the register plate. I incorporate a hatch in mine to get a vacuum cleaner in to suck that away.
Pipes from the top of the wood burner are easier to sweep.
There won't be any residual CO2 in the house, but there may be a smell!
John

Did you have a house survey? In GB you need the stove to be certified by a Hetas qualified person. That means it will have a certificate and a plaque near the stove. A house survey should alert you to such things. If it was a self installed stove, they might not have done a proper job, and the flue might not be suitable without a liner. Or it might just be dirty!