Straw bales catch fire, leaving 2 trailers gutted

Being raised on a horse farm, one of the biggest things my dad stressed growing up was hay/straw and fire are dangerous. That sounds like a common sense thing to some, but you would be surprised at the amount of people who try and walk through our barn or the barns at the fair with a lit cig. Hay/straw goes up so fast and so hot, it's hard to stop when it starts.

 

Thats too bad,I see alot of folks throwing cigars and cigerettes out their windows,the other night I was following a flammable tanker,that driver threw out a lit cigerette,so go figure,weird ideas some folks have. I had a buddy years ago have a load of logs catch fire,they were dragging on the ground behind him and heated up and started burning,he got stopped and dropped the trailer,do you know the insurance company would not pay him because he unhooked the trailer,he had to sue them for damages.

 

Hay can spontaneously combust if it is packed when it is not fully dry. My neighbor lost his barn that way... <sigh>

 

Cig butts thrown out of vehicles and sparks from the exhaust cause most of the fires on hay/straw rigs.

 

That I did not know. I usually toss my stogie butts out the window (you should see the shower of sparks that can create!) Oh well, better start using the ashtray...