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Hot enough environment and low enough flash poiint and combstion is going to happen wether you like it or not.
Most definitely can happen . . . seen it myself with hay that was baled up while still too green . . . weird to see a whole field of baled up hay on fire. At first we thought it was a bunch of punks that had set the hay on fire . . . until we opened up one bale that wasn't on fire and the inside hay was actually hot to the touch.
Hay will heat up if there's a little moisture in it as it will start composting. Fresh bark mulch may do the same.
firefighterjake said:
Oh ya Jake. I've seen more than a couple barn fires caused by guys baling when the hay was not cured enough. Usually caused during damp weather so the hay just won't cure. It gets close and they bale. (I'm talking back when the smaller bales were what all farmers used.) Stack them in the haymow and a few days later it starts to mold and then really gets hot.
I do remember a couple times we baled some like that. What we did was to spread out the hay and stack the bales on their sides. This helped for sure and we saw what would have happened should we stack them tight together. It is scary!
btw, when I was a young lad I attended 3 barn fires and all 3 were caused from hay getting hot. One of the things I remember most was that I really learned first hand what the animals would do. The barn was their shelter....so with the fire, they wanted to get into the barn. It is difficult to keep them away from the burning barn.
Timely and appropriate to the topic at hand . . . this was with the larger round bales.
http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/costly-firefor-farmers_2011-07-03.html
http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/costly-firefor-farmers_2011-07-03.html
Yup, it is identical whether in square or round bales; big or small. First mold, then the heat really gets to cooking.
If we baled hay a bit too wet we would daily stick our hands into the bale to feel for heat. Of course we also set the strings a bit loose; too tight and problems speed up.
If we baled hay a bit too wet we would daily stick our hands into the bale to feel for heat. Of course we also set the strings a bit loose; too tight and problems speed up.
That's' why dirty shop rags should be stored in an enclosed metal can until they're cleaned. I use a small galvanized metal trash can in my shop. You've got to keep the lid on it to prevent too much 02 from getting in.
Oil based sealers and varnishes usually have "driers" in them that speed up the chemical reactions and dramatically increase the risk of spontaneous combustion.
Not that you want to leave rags with motor oil and grease laying around, but be extremely careful with oil based paint rags.
Not that you want to leave rags with motor oil and grease laying around, but be extremely careful with oil based paint rags.
I've burned the casing off of wire already to get the better recycled price. A couple thousand pounds of wire and plastic casing, a couple pallets to get it going and you have a very, very hot fire. I did it in a shale parking lot away from anything. There was an old root ball about 15' from the fire. It was that hot it started the root ball on fire. Needless to say I was a little worried, but the good thing with a shale parking lot is there just isn't anything to burn.
Backwoods Savage said:
around here, those round hay bales are illegal. some animal lover group found out that the cows weren't getting a square meal....
hey dennis-hope you and mrs. ornery had a good fourth. just thought i'd add my wisdom/experience here.
years ago, at a window plant, a fellow (volunteer fireman) decided to mix up his own "floor sweep". you know- that slightly sticky stuff you sprinkle on the floor and then push broom it all??? only thing is, the stuff he used, when he was done, was left in a cardboard box-inside the building! yup! spontaneous combustion over the weekend. lucky for us, night watchman caught it while making his rounds-one section of the building was all filled with smoke! (no smoke alarms or sprinklers) he just found the box and got it outside. i think he used linseed oil and sawdust!!
And heck, so many suffer trying to get a stove going! Here we are talking bout fires that start themselves! No wonder my wife calls me a pyro!!
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