Wrong chimney choice for Massachusetts

After the early Nor'easter we has a couple of weeks ago, most everything is back to normal now. The lights have come back on for everyone, the broken trees and branches have been cleared. Whats not back to normal is the residence living in a fire and smoke ruined home.
They actually had to move out.

Their manufactured chimney ended up catching their house on fire. Without heat, these homeowners tried to use this manufactured fireplace to produce heat and stay warm. No one is provided with the information that these units are not capable of long and repeated wood burning. The Northborough fire chief had to make a statement warning people that their wooden chimney and fireplace should only be used occasionally. “It’s designed for a ceremonial or a pleasure fire at the holidays, not for hardcore, heavy-duty heating,” Northborough fire Chief David Durgin said.


When a masonry chimney and fireplace is built there are specific codes to follow, the masonry walls need to be a minimum of 8" in the throat area. The heat and smoke goes up a heat fired clay flue liner and the smoke exits two feet over the peak of the roof. If good wood burning practices are followed the masonry chimney and fireplace is very safe. These manufactured unites are made of double lined galvanized sheet metal. The throat area is stuffed with insulation on the backside of the throat to prevent heat transferring to the wood structure. That sounds like a shortcut, a ceremonial chimney and fireplace not designed for much of anything. But where is the safety information? There isn't any, its swept under the rug and sold with a wink and a tail light warranty.

That isn't what is told to anyone when they buy these houses with a manufactured chimney on it. It isn't mentioned at all I will bet. That doesn't cut it, not for me anyways. People spend quite a lot of money on property now a days, why not provide a chimney and fireplace that can handle hardcore wood burning? I can't imagine a "fake" chimney being a lot cheaper? Maybe a few bucks, but that's nothing when we are talking house fires!

Its a sad state of affairs when the home builders put on unsafe chimneys, sell the house for an exorbitant amount of money, and never mention that the fireplace should be used in moderation.

Do these builders just assume people would understand that its a "WOODEN CHIMNEY", like duh don't abuse it?

Silly, build a masonry chimney and let the homeowner choose how to light their fires!