Ever start a fire?

[DIRTROAD]

This Firetruck got stuck due to a leaky hose connection. This happened today. The fire got extremely close to it.


The fire destroyed the landowners barn and the surrounding 5 acres. The barn housed a JD Gator, Snapper mower, 5x10 trailer, Fertilizer spreader, and other misc. stuff.


The landowner had burned a pile of debris on Wednesday of this week and then he received approx. 2" rainfall on the leftover ashes. Fastfoward to today and the humidity drops and the winds blow hard and the seemingly extinguished fire rekindles and embers are blown into his adjacent broomstraw field resulting in the loss of his barn.

 

[DIRTROAD]

Yes happens all the time out on the west coast. As many as 25% of the fire starts on the coast of Ca are from equipment and mowing.

Some counties in California require a permit to be obtained (before starting work) when extreme fire conditions are present. I have seen stories of a weedeater with a blade starting fires before.

The difference between the east and west is that the west has very low humidity most of the time and especially during the summer. The east experiences its lowest humidity values during this time of year and then we all know how humid and muggy it gets during the summers.

 

[boggen]

i have never heard of a mower catching something on fire. but i can honestly believe it. even without others stating it.

having to put out fires, or an attempt to keep them controlled. you would be amazed what little amount of wind and dry stuff it takes to get what you thought was good. to become a major problem very quickly. all it takes is one little hot piece floating over to another spot. and there goes a blazing roaring fire.

as far as blades hitting a rock and making a spark. i can easily believe that. if ya ever used a grinder, or even a sander and hit some metal. it does not take much at times to get a spark.

 

[Mowermoney]

I was mowing a lake lot that had a debris pile located in the middle and a garage on the other end. After mulching the pile(which contained some rebar i started clearing around the garage. After making a few passes around it I noticed smoke. I immediately shut down and looked my machine over. It was fine. I looked at the garage and leaves on the roof were burning. By that time the owner had a hose going and put the fire out. The pile was 100 feet away from the Garage.

 

[fishfactor]

I was mowing a lake lot that had a debris pile located in the middle and a garage on the other end. After mulching the pile(which contained some rebar i started clearing around the garage. After making a few passes around it I noticed smoke. I immediately shut down and looked my machine over. It was fine. I looked at the garage and leaves on the roof were burning. By that time the owner had a hose going and put the fire out. The pile was 100 feet away from the Garage.

So a spark from the rebar started the fire on the roof? That's a million to one shot.

When you are trying to start a fire it's darn near impossible sometimes. But when it's the last thing you want to do it happens like this with a spark flying 100 feet and landing on a roof.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I was mowing a field with the Takeuchi and Davco and after making a pass and turning around I climbed back up the hill and could see smoke.

I crested the hill and a small fire had started in the field. I immediately looked in the mirror expecting to see the machine on fire but it was not. I attempted to "mow" the fire out but that didn't work and it lit the material on the mower. I tipped/flipped the mower and got most of the debris off and hauled butt across the field to my truck and called 911.

The best I can tell it was the blade hitting a rock and creating a spark. Anybody ever hear of this or have another idea? The machine and mower were checked and showed no signs of burnt debris anywhere (except on top where I caught it on fire)

We have some very dry conditions right now and it went up quick.

The fire dept shows up drives a tanker out in the field, blows the tranny and got swallowed by the fire. No one was hurt and they contained the fire to this 8 acre field but the truck was a total loss.

Wow...I don't usually visit this section of TBN, but the headline caught my eye...Funny thing is, I saw the headline of this story on another site I'm on (FirefighterNation)...

http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/connecticut-fire-engine

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Here is a news story:

Brush fire destroys Kent fire truck - NewsTimes

 

[APSmulching]

I did the same thing with my rotary mower on my old machine minus the burnt fire truck. I hit a rock and it threw a spark and lit up dry leaves. It was late fall when it was really dry. I jumped out of the cab and tried to snuff it out with my jacket but it was windy and the fire just took of. Fire department came quickly and put it out before it got too bad. I'm shocked it's that dry up there this time of year. In the Northeast we don't worry about starting fires like that, but it happened to me also. I'm glad no one was hurt, and I'm sure the fire truck was insured.

 

[Extreme Mowing]

I put out a fire off the right of way. The trail dozers pushed a burn pile to the side to early and the wind kicked up later that day and ignited the pine forest. Me and the excavator were the working late and headed back to the truck. We were the only workers on site except for an inspector. My hoe operator saw it and got me on the radio. By the time I got there with the Tigercat 480 he it was climbing the trees in about a quarter acre. I cut a circle around it taking down 8 to 12 inchers then backed dragged deep to expose more dirt . After two wide it was contained. It was last summer and extremely dry. It would of took a hundred acres in no time.The water buuggies shower up and said can we get in there and with my adrinalin flowing I said **** yea, I just made a road!

 

[NativeSon]

Around here some people do controled burns on their pastures and hay meadows when the conditions are right. But, you ask an ole' timer here "Have you ever burned your pasture?" and you'll get "Oh sure.......well not on purpose."

Charlie

 

[creekbend]

I belong to a volunteer fire department. Just a reminder that anything can happen when least expected. I have two fire extinguishers installed on my Kubota L4400. They are on brackets on my ROPS. They are readily accessible and do not impede my movements or the functionability of my tractor.Another fire extinguisher is on the wall in my shop also. We have several in our home too. These are located in the kitchen, laundry room and other central locations. I am not or ever have been paranoid. I just try to prepare for possible bad scenarios-a form of preventative maintenance in a way. By the way, both of our pickups have fire extinguishers in the cab. Happy tractoring from Creekbend.

 

[IndyIan]

In my area the local fire dept will send you the bill to put out a brush fire, and if you are a repeat offender they call in all of their equipment. One of my elderly neighbors started one a few years ago, burning the ditches in front of his place and only got dinged for $300 but got warned next time it be far more...
These days I "compost" alot more brush to avoid the risk and I do have the space to do it.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

My folks nearly lost a home due to a neighbor mowing a field in very dry conditions. Wind blowing, spark from rotary hitting flint or metal or another hard object and the fire took off burning about 10 AC.

When I was a volunteer firefighter many years ago, I saw large brush fires started from something as small as a spark on dry grass.

It's possible. Down here in Texas, we are all pretty nervous about fire and I am taking extra precautions. I made it plain that any sub contractors couldn't smoke on my sites unless they smoke over dirt, put the ashes out, and butts in their pocket. It's that dry and we have fires all over the place that started from something small.

When I mulch or mow grass, I'm especially nervous and conscientious. It's easy to get complacent but the possibility of fire should be in the forefront of your thoughts when the conditions are unfavorable. For example, if the winds are truly unfavorable and the humidity is too low, I have stopped mulching or running equipment in the woods. It may seem like overkill but red flag warning days and days that I deem are unsafe are a good maintenance day. I recently had a small fire start on my machine. In over 6,000 hours of mulching, I have never had a fire and I keep my compartments cleaned out.
It can happen and does happen.

Liability insurance is a must as well as extinguishers and an emergency plan.

I hope that we all learn from each other's experiences and keep the fires to a minimum.

Sorry to hear about fire department's equipment loss. A fire in and of itself isn't a bad thing for a field but getting stuck with your truck in the way of the fire is disastrous.. glad everyone got out okay.