​In 1983, Tom and Esther Urban had a successful chimney-sweeping business in Pennsylvania (founded in 1979). It was a great time to be a chimney sweep. As a result of the oil embargo, people couldn’t afford to heat their homes. Oil surged from $2 per barrel to $11. The price of gas soared by 40%. Gas and oil were also in short supply. Home heating prices went through the roof as homeowners struggled to purchase and install wood stoves. Factories shut down. The economy was at a low point.
With the rapidly growing demand for wood heat, manufacturers sprung up overnight with people welding and selling stoves in their garages. With the lack of design, the poorly designed stoves generated a lot of creosote, leading to a surge in chimney and home fires from poorly installed units. Most of the codes we see today weren’t written yet.
As Tom and Esther continued to clean chimneys, they worried about what they couldn’t see in the flue. Using a flashlight allowed them to see some problems, but they became convinced they needed to see the inside of the flue close up. This was when Tom conceived manufacturing a chimney camera, especially for scanning chimneys. Little did he know he would embark on a journey that strayed far from his degree in Dairy Science and resulted in becoming a chimney camera designer, manufacturer, and well-recognized expert in the field of chimneys and hearth installations.
It took Tom nine months to create and finalize his black-and-white camera system. It was the size of a footlocker and had wheels to assist in taking it in and out of the customer's home. When he first scanned a chimney he swept the previous year, he entered an entirely different world. It was simply amazing.
The property was a large farmhouse in the country. As Tom pulled up, he noticed it was pretty tall. He met the homeowner, who was a retired Navy Veteran. He had spent 23 years doing tours and was ready to kick back and enjoy his farm in northeast Pennsylvania. He had heard about Tom’s chimney camera and wanted his chimney scanned. This was the last job of the day in January. Tom had just completed three jobs with slammers, and he was cold, exhausted, and just wanted to get home.
He had looked down at the flue with a flashlight and saw the top two flue liners with vertical cracks. The others looked OK. There were 14 liners, so the flue was 28 feet tall, which meant extra time and work to scan this chimney. Since he had just seen damage at the top, he didn’t feel like dragging out the “footlocker,” the 50-pound unit, and bringing it into the house. The homeowner persisted, and this is what Tom found.
The camera showed a thimble hole covered with sheet rock. The man would have burnt his house down if he hadn't caught that. This ignited Tom’s passion for putting a chimney camera in the hands of every sweep and the need to scan every chimney, even when it visually passed muster.
Tom started scanning every chimney; he built a wealth of knowledge from scanning flues and gathering information. He also spent time with an insurance adjuster. He became privy to the homeowner interviews, documentation, and the chimney fire damage it caused. He also learned how an insurance adjuster works by traveling with him to investigate chimney fire claims. The insurance adjuster and his bosses were impressed by Tom and his invention.
As Tom continued to scan chimneys, he became like a fine tracker who picks up nuances of what has gone before, learning to read the signs in the flue. Tom became the expert. He shared his experiences as a teacher at the Chimney Safety Institute of America and the National Chimney Sweep Guild. Still, there were doubters, thinking the customer would never pay for the service and that scanning chimneys wasn’t needed.
Once sweeps started to get sued over missing defects in chimneys they labeled “safe,” they began to take an interest in scanning. What also helped is insurance adjusters were more likely to approve the installation of a stainless steel chimney liner if they saw documented proof of a hazardous condition inside the flue caused by a sudden occurrence, like a chimney fire. By then, they were aware that chimney cameras existed.
In the meantime, a national distributor took an interest in Tom and his camera, and he was offered the position of Director of Technical Advisory Services. Tom worked there for a few years, but business was picking up as Chim-Scan® Cameras took off.  Tom became more involved in industry boards such as the CSIA and the NCSG and offered his time as a teacher.
In 1997, Tom was the Technical Chair for the National Chimney Sweep Guild and was on the Task Force with five others: Ashley Eldridge, Dave Johnston, Jack Pixley, Jim Brewer, and Pete Luter. This group created the levels of Inspection known today as Chapter 15 of the National Fire Protection Association and the Annex. Until then, there were no guidelines in the NFPA 211 for chimney inspections. There was only a reference to an annual inspection and cleaning if necessary.
Tom went on to create training for the Inspection & Documentation class for the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA). He has taught this class, Chimney Physics, and has taught at the CSIA National Training Academy at the Chimney Safety Institute.
Today, chimney scanning has gained acceptance with insurance adjustors and within the trades. It’s almost unheard of not scanning a chimney. Scanning finds defects; if you inspect, you’d better not miss anything. Also, how can you prove to an insurance adjuster the degree of damage that a chimney fire caused? Scanning a chimney is also required when performing a Level 2 Inspection as outlined in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 211 Standard, Chapter 15, and the Annex.
Tom was in a special feature on ABC’s 20/20 on carbon monoxide issues. Tom was in the hit TV Show “This Old House,” demonstrating a chimney inspection with the Chim-Scan Inspection System®. He has been interviewed on CNN and featured in many magazines and newspapers nationwide. Tom has been a National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG) member for 40 years. Tom served as an NCSG Director, as head of the Technical Committee, and has served on the board. He was part of the NCSG Safety Team, which swept and video-scanned the chimneys at the White House in 1989. He has written articles for Blue Collar Magazine, Sweeping Magazine, and SNEWS, among other industry magazines.
Tom has received some of the industry’s highest awards, such as The President’s Award from the National Chimney Sweep Guild, the Education Award from the Chimney Safety Institute of America, and many more.
Today, Tom leads the innovation teams for Flue & Hearth Notes™ and the Chim-Scan® Inspection System businesses. He continues to construct and design cameras and is dedicated to increasing the knowledge of the chimney, hearth, and chimney inspection industries with Flue & Hearth Notes™ and teaching.
Tom has written two books – The Chimney Scanning & Inspection Guide and Interior Chimney Scanning. He continues to create educational presentations and even an inspection process using the Flue & Hearth Notes™ Checklist (Short Form), The Long Form, and the Summary Form. Urban Inspection Language™ is a model language integrated into reports and documentation. This copy has been legally reviewed.
The first man in the world to invent a chimney camera and scan a chimney laid the basis for a nationally accepted practice. Word has gotten around about the documented inspections with photos, and homeowners are disappointed if they can’t see images of the chimney interior. [The “Short Form” checklist was indoctrinated into Case Law in California.] What will Tom think of next?
The pictures show Tom with his students, simulating a chimney fire to show how flue tiles crack. The photo on the right shows a cracked flue tile. This was done at our Fairfield, Iowa location.

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