Cuba's Entire Grid Collapses Leads to 10 Million Dark After Decades of Neglect

A neighbor had a chimney fire last January. Not a house fire, thankfully, but a roaring column of flame shooting out the top of the chimney that brought two fire trucks and a lesson he won't forget. The cause: three years of wood burning without a single chimney cleaning. Creosote buildup ignited. The repair cost more than a decade of annual inspections would have. The fireplace that was supposed to keep his family warm during outages nearly burned down his house.

Here's what I've got today:

Your Fireplace Is a Preparedness Asset, If You Maintain It

We covered alternative heating (Issue 21) and wood stoves (Issue 74). This week focuses specifically on chimney and fireplace maintenance, because a fireplace is one of the most valuable grid-down heating systems you can have, and one of the most dangerous if neglected.

Creosote is the primary hazard. When wood burns incompletely (low-temperature fires, unseasoned wood, restricted airflow), it produces creosote, a tar-like residue that coats the inside of the chimney flue. Creosote is highly flammable. A buildup of 1/8 inch or more is considered a fire hazard. A chimney fire occurs when this buildup ignites, producing temperatures that can crack flue tiles, damage the chimney structure, and spread fire to the surrounding home.

Annual inspection is the minimum standard. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends annual chimney inspection and cleaning. A certified chimney sweep (look for CSIA certification) inspects the flue, firebox, damper, and chimney cap, cleans creosote buildup, and identifies structural issues before they become dangerous. Cost: $150 to $300 per visit.

Between professional cleanings, you can reduce creosote buildup by burning only seasoned hardwood (dried at least 6 to 12 months), maintaining hot fires (low, smoldering fires produce the most creosote), and ensuring adequate airflow (don't close the damper too much). Creosote removal logs (like Rutland Creosote Remover) can help reduce light buildup between cleanings but are not a substitute for professional sweeping.

The chimney cap prevents rain, animals, and debris from entering the flue. If yours is missing or damaged, replace it immediately. A stainless steel chimney cap with a spark arrestor screen costs $30 to $80 and installs in minutes. It prevents the most common non-fire chimney problems.

Carbon monoxide is the silent hazard. A blocked or partially blocked flue can redirect combustion gases into your home instead of up the chimney. CO detectors on every floor (Issue 37) are non-negotiable if you have any combustion heating. Test the draft before every fire: light a match near the open damper and confirm the smoke draws upward.

For preparedness purposes, your fireplace or wood stove should be inspected and cleaned before every heating season. Don't wait for the first cold snap. Schedule the sweep in early fall when availability is good and prices are lower.

Schedule a chimney inspection if you haven't had one this year.

Search "CSIA certified chimney sweep" plus your zip code. Book an inspection and cleaning. If you don't have a fireplace, check your CO detectors instead. Both take less than 5 minutes to arrange.

Fire Departments Respond to a Heating-Related Home Fire Every Eight Minutes in Winter

NFPA data show heating equipment causes an average of 65,000 home fires, 430 deaths, 1,530 injuries, and $1.1 billion in direct property damage every year, the second-leading cause of home fires overall. Failure to clean equipment, meaning creosote buildup specifically, is the single leading cause of those fires. Chimney and flue fires alone account for 5% of all home fires nationwide, rising to 7% in one- and two-family homes, and roughly three in ten home heating equipment fires involve a fireplace or chimney. Half of all home heating fires happen in December, January, or February, with January the deadliest month on record.

The fireplace you're counting on as backup heat during a winter outage is, by the numbers, more likely to burn your house down than keep it running, unless it's actually been serviced.

Source: NFPA

Jonathan Hollerman's preparedness consulting practice has seen multiple clients invest in expensive wood stoves and fireplaces without maintaining them. In Survival Theory, he writes about the importance of maintaining every system you plan to rely on during a crisis. A fireplace that hasn't been inspected is not a backup heating plan. It's a liability.

Hollerman's rule: if you can't verify it works safely right now, don't count it in your preparedness plan. An annual chimney inspection is the verification that your backup heating system is actually ready.

Get Survival Theory: A Preparedness Guide by Jonathan Hollerman

Cuba's Entire Power Grid Collapsed Monday — Decades of Deferred Maintenance Finally Caught Up

Cuba's national electrical grid failed completely on July 6, its third total blackout of 2026, leaving all 10 million residents without power and forcing hospitals to cancel tens of thousands of surgeries. The cause: 11 of Cuba's 16 thermoelectric plants, most built between the 1960s and 1980s with Soviet technology and designed for roughly 100,000 operating hours, are decades past that lifespan and now running at an average of just 34% capacity, with no money for parts or upkeep. Cuba had the fourth-highest per-capita income in Latin America before 1959. Sixty-seven years of one-party Communist rule later, the country can no longer keep the lights on.

The preparedness lesson isn't about Cuba's politics specifically. It's that infrastructure fails wherever it isn't reinvested in, and a one-party system has no built-in mechanism, no vote, no recall, no lawsuit, to force that reinvestment before collapse. If your own region's utilities start declining, it's worth knowing whether you actually have recourse or if it’s safer to leave for better maintained regions.

Source: Electric Choice

Rutland Creosote Remover Log

This is a supplemental cleaning product, not a replacement for professional sweeping. You burn it in your fireplace like a regular log. The chemicals it releases coat the creosote in your flue, causing it to dry, become britite, and flake off over subsequent fires.

I use one mid-season (around January) between my fall professional cleaning and the end of the burning season. The sweep confirmed less buildup at the next annual inspection compared to years without it. About $13 per log (Rutland's own 2-pack runs $24.99).

Budget alternative: Burn hotter, cleaner fires using only well-seasoned hardwood. This is the cheapest way to minimize creosote between professional cleanings. Free if you're already sourcing good firewood.

Get the Rutland Creosote Antidote Firelog

Overrated: Chimney cleaning logs as a replacement for professional sweeping. They help with light maintenance but cannot remove heavy creosote buildup or identify structural problems. They're a supplement, not a substitute.

Underrated: The chimney cap. A $50 stainless steel cap with a spark arrestor prevents rain damage, animal nesting, and ember escape. It's the cheapest piece of chimney maintenance and prevents the most common non-fire problems.

CSIA.org — Chimney Safety Institute of America. Find a certified chimney sweep.

NFPA: Chimney Safety — National Fire Protection Association chimney maintenance guidance.

Extension.org: Wood Heating — University guidance on safe wood heating practices.

Hearth.com — Wood heating community with forums, reviews, and maintenance guides.

Building a digital reference library. How to organize critical documents, manuals, and guides on an encrypted USB drive so your most important information is always accessible.

PS: My neighbor's chimney fire cost about $2,800 to repair: new flue liner, masonry work, and a new chimney cap. His annual inspection would have cost $200 and caught the problem before it became a fire. Fourteen years of annual inspections for the cost of one repair. Maintenance isn't exciting. But it's dramatically cheaper than the alternative.