A chimney or fireplace emergency is not the moment to search for answers — it is the moment to act. This page walks through the five situations that send Crest Hill and Will County homeowners reaching for the phone, and for each one it lays out plainly what to do right now and the mistakes that make things far worse. When a fire, a gas smell, or falling masonry is involved, protect people first and call us the moment everyone is safe.
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Call 911 first if flames are showing beyond the firebox, smoke is filling the rooms, a carbon monoxide alarm is going off, or anyone feels faint, confused, sick, or hard to rouse. People come before property — get the household outdoors into clean air first. Grand Chimney Sweepers comes next: we make the chimney safe once the fire department and paramedics have cleared the home.
Why a chimney problem becomes an emergency so fast
A chimney is a heat-and-gas handling system built into the walls of your house. When it works, it carries fire byproducts safely above the roofline. When it fails, those same byproducts — 1,000-degree gases, carbon monoxide, and burning creosote — have nowhere to go but back into your living space or into the framing hidden behind your masonry. Many of the homes we serve in Crest Hill, Joliet, and Lockport were built decades ago with clay-tile liners that crack with age, and an Illinois winter pushes those systems hard. That combination is why a smell you ignored in October can become a 2 a.m. emergency in January. Knowing the five situations below, and your first moves for each, buys you the minutes that matter.
1. Chimney Fire
What it is. A chimney fire is the creosote lining your flue — the tar-like residue wood smoke leaves behind — catching light inside the chimney. Some announce themselves with a deep rushing roar and sparks pouring from the top of the stack; others stay eerily quiet, smoldering unseen while the heat climbs high enough to split tile and set nearby framing alight. Either kind can reach into the house.
✓ Do this right now
- Get every person and pet out of the house and call 911.
- If it takes only seconds and no risk, shut the fireplace doors or close the air intakes to choke off the fire’s oxygen.
- Use a fire extinguisher only on flames that have spread into the room — never aim it up into the flue.
- From the yard, watch the roof for travelling embers while help is on the way.
- After it is out, book us for the required Level 2 inspection before anyone relights the fireplace.
✗ Never do this
- Never throw water up the flue — the steam burst can crack the liner and scald you.
- Never assume a fire that went quiet is out; creosote fires reignite and smolder inside the walls.
- Never use the fireplace again until it has been inspected, even if it looks fine.
- Never climb onto the roof to fight it yourself.
Why it matters: a flue fire almost always scars or breaches the liner it burns through, and a compromised liner hands the next ordinary fire a direct route to your home’s framing. That is why NFPA 211, the fire-safety standard we work to, requires a Level 2 inspection after any flue fire before the system returns to service.
2. Carbon Monoxide (CO) Leak
What it is. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas produced whenever fuel burns. A healthy chimney carries it outside. A blocked flue, a cracked liner, a backdrafting appliance, or a gas fireplace venting improperly can send it into the room instead. You cannot see or smell it, so the alarm on your wall is often the only warning you get.
✓ Do this right now
- Move everyone outdoors into fresh air at once — do not stop to investigate.
- Phone 911 from the yard, above all if anyone feels unwell.
- Prop the exterior door open on your way past so the gas can clear.
- Shut off the fireplace or appliance only if the control is on your path out.
- Keep the appliance off until the chimney and venting have been inspected.
✗ Never do this
- Never write the alarm off as a false one — assume every warning is genuine.
- Never head back inside to air the place out yourself.
- Never relight the appliance to test whether it alarms again.
- Never treat a cracked window as the fix — it does not cure a venting failure.
Why it matters: carbon monoxide poisoning can turn deadly while a family sleeps, and it gives almost no warning on its own. In the tightly sealed homes common across newer Plainfield and Shorewood subdivisions, a venting failure fills a room faster than many people expect.
3. Severe Flue Blockage
What it is. A blockage is anything that chokes the passage the smoke needs to escape: a bird or squirrel nest, a fallen cap, a slab of collapsed tile, a heavy glaze of creosote, or leaves packed in after a storm. When the flue cannot breathe, smoke and carbon monoxide have only one way to go — back into your home.
✓ Do this right now
- Put the fire out and stop using the fireplace.
- Air the room out by opening a nearby window and a door.
- If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, leave the house and call 911.
- Note anything you can see blocking the opening, but leave it in place.
- Call us to locate and clear the obstruction with a professional sweep and camera check.
✗ Never do this
- Never keep burning to try to push the blockage out — that fills the house with CO.
- Never ram a pole or hose down the flue from the roof; a trapped animal or loose tile can jam worse.
- Never light a bigger fire to overpower a weak draft.
- Never assume the smell will clear on its own while the obstruction stays.
Why it matters: a blocked flue does not just make a smoky room — it routes carbon monoxide straight into your living space every minute the fire burns. We clear blockages seven days a week across Will County so you are not left guessing whether it is safe to light up.
4. Smoke Backdrafting
What it is. Backdrafting is draft running the wrong way: instead of rising up the chimney, smoke and cold air spill down into the room. It is driven by negative pressure in the house, wind conditions over the roof, a cold flue, or a missing or crushed chimney cap that lets wind dive down the stack. It often strikes the moment a furnace, range hood, or bath fan switches on.
✓ Do this right now
- Crack a window near the fireplace to relieve the negative pressure.
- Switch off range-hood and bathroom fans, and pause the dryer, while the fire is lit.
- If the room is filling with smoke, put the fire out and ventilate.
- Check that your CO alarms are working — backdrafting pulls combustion gases inside.
- Call us to diagnose the cause and recommend a cap, liner, or make-up air fix.
✗ Never do this
- Never run the fire hard and leave the room, assuming it will clear.
- Never seal the house tighter to block the draft — that worsens the pressure problem.
- Never dismiss repeated backdrafting as normal; it is a venting fault.
- Never ignore a CO alarm that coincides with the smoke.
Why it matters: when the draft reverses, the gases that should be exiting your home are pouring into it instead. On the coldest nights, with the furnace cycling constantly and the fireplace lit, that is exactly when the carbon monoxide risk peaks.
5. Sudden Structural Damage
What it is. Sometimes the emergency is the chimney itself: a stack leaning after a windstorm, a crown or several courses of brick that have collapsed, a lightning strike, or masonry shedding chunks onto the roof or driveway. Freeze-thaw cycles across a Will County winter loosen old mortar, and a single hard storm can finish the job.
✓ Do this right now
- Keep people away from the area below the chimney, inside and out.
- Stop using the fireplace until the structure is assessed.
- If bricks are falling near a gas or power line, or the lean is severe, call 911.
- Photograph the damage from the ground for your records and insurer.
- Call us for an urgent repair assessment and temporary stabilization.
✗ Never do this
- Never climb onto the roof to inspect or prop up a damaged stack.
- Never light a fire in a chimney with unknown structural damage.
- Never pile fallen brick back up or attempt a quick patch yourself.
- Never wait out a storm season — a compromised chimney worsens with every freeze.
Why it matters: a leaning or crumbling chimney is both a falling-masonry hazard and an open path for fire and water to reach the structure. The sooner it is stabilized, the smaller and cheaper the repair tends to be.
Frequently asked questions
Do you offer same-day emergency chimney service in Crest Hill?
Yes. We answer the phone seven days a week from 7am to 7pm and prioritize urgent situations — a chimney fire aftermath, a suspected blockage, falling masonry, or a venting problem — across Crest Hill, Joliet, Lockport, and the rest of our Will County service area. Call and tell us what is happening so we can advise your first steps and get out to you quickly.
Should I call 911 or call you first?
Always dial 911 first when you see flames, heavy smoke, a sounding carbon monoxide alarm, or anyone feels unwell. The fire department and paramedics make the home safe for people. We come next, to inspect and repair the chimney so it is safe to use again.
My chimney fire went out on its own. Is it safe to use the fireplace now?
No. A chimney fire almost always damages the flue liner, and that damage is usually hidden. Using the fireplace again before a Level 2 inspection risks letting the next fire reach the framing of your home. Keep the fireplace cold until we have looked inside with a camera.
My carbon monoxide alarm went off but nobody feels sick. Was it a false alarm?
Treat every carbon monoxide alarm as real. Get everyone outside, call 911, and leave the house aired out until it is checked. Carbon monoxide is invisible and odorless, and symptoms do not always appear before dangerous levels are reached. We will find the venting fault that triggered it.
How much should I expect to pay for urgent chimney work?
The first step is almost always an inspection to find out what is actually wrong, and we quote that clearly before we begin. From there we give you an honest, itemized price for any repair, with urgent and non-urgent items separated so you decide what happens. You can see our starting figures on the pricing page.
Why does smoke pour into my living room when the furnace turns on?
That is backdrafting — the furnace and other exhaust appliances pull the house negative, and the chimney becomes the easiest place for replacement air to enter, dragging smoke down with it. It is a venting fault worth diagnosing, because the same reversed draft can carry carbon monoxide indoors.
A storm cracked my chimney. Can I still use the fireplace until you arrive?
Do not use it. Structural damage can open a hidden path for fire and water into the home, and the integrity of the flue is unknown. Keep people clear of the area, stop using the fireplace, and call us for an urgent assessment and temporary stabilization.
What is the best way to avoid a chimney emergency altogether?
Nearly all of them trace back to a missed inspection or cleaning. An annual inspection and a sweep when buildup warrants it — the schedule NFPA 211 sets — catches cracked liners, heavy creosote, failing caps, and loose masonry long before they become a 2 a.m. call. Working carbon monoxide alarms on every level are the other essential.
Published October 21, 2026.