B26—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 24,1981
Know what to do
BY BETH HEMMINGER
Staff Correspondent
CARLISLE "Safeguard your
farm against fire.”
Randy Watts, Cumberland
County Fire Service Coordinator
says he cannot express the
meanings of those words enough in
the farming community. He
recently spoke to the Cumberland
County Dairy Calf Club on fire
safety on the farm and many
preventions and safety methods
that can be used on the farm.
"The farming community is an
important industry in Cumberland
County and it is an important in
dustry to the fire department, who
must save barns, silos, or milking
parlors with the utmost speed and
efficiency,” said the coordinator.
Therefore, Watts says he feels that
the farmers need to be educated in
fire prevention and protection and
help in the fight.
Farm fires are like any other
tire—devastating; but, the farm
has a few other handicaps which
include the facility’s size, quantity
ot combustible materials in the
area and the distance from the lire
department. Watts noted that
because of the farm’s layout and
size, usually it one building is
engulfed in flames, others will be
ignited.
Practically, everything on the
farm is combustible, hay, wood,
teed bags, silage, etc., which
cannot be eliminated, but the
farmer can make sure these
materials are kept away from
electricity, gasoline and other tire
igniting materials.
Timing is the greatest factor in a
tire according to Watts. Many
tunes it is the only factor between
entire destruction and partial
damage.
In recent years other tire
hazanls have increased on the
farm:
Spontaneous combustion of hay
has been one of the major
problems tor farmers and fire
fighters. Spontaneous combustion
occurs when the moisture ot hay is
relatively high creating an at-
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when
mosptiere tor bacteria to grow
generating heat. Watts explained
that as the temperature rises to a
combustible stage, the only
ingredient needed for the ignition
is air. With a sufficient air flow the
hay will immediately burst into
flames much like a grass fire,
burning rapidly and causing, in
many cases as Watts slides
showed, the complete destruction
of the barn.
Silos have become another tire
hazard on the tarm. Watts ex
plained that the silage reacts the
same way as hay. When it is placed
in the silo with a high moisture
count the fermenting gases
become heated, then the conditions
are perfect, all that is needed is the
addition of enough air to make the
gases explode.
Consequently, fire fighters have
had to be trained to fight the ex
plosive fires and so must the
farmers, says Watts. Because ot
lack ot knowledge, several firemen
and farmers have died throughout
the United States due to map-
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propnate tire fighting nieuiuds ot
silos.
On one case, the tire lighters
unknowingly put water into a silo,
followed by loam. They then added
the third ingredient tor the
tragedy-enough air to make the
mixture explosive. The hose
stream into the silo top would
entrain, or pull with it, a large
amount of outside air. Also, the
loam is largely air bubbles. The
lighters added the third and fatal
item to the silo, causing explosion.
To prevent these type of ac
cidents, Watts suggests some
prevention measures for the silo.
Oxygen-free silos should be kept
that way. Breather valves must be
operating correctly, and all hat
ches and openings must be kept
sealed as much as possible.
It a sealed silo has extremely hot
material in it, keep hatches closed
and proceed with unloading the
material. Carbon dioxide under
pressure or in the form ot dry ice
might be used to smother the fire
and displace explosive gases.
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Clean-in-place
In a conventional silo, explosions
are less likely. The gases might
Hash, but lack ot confinement
would probably reduce the danger.
Material going in should not be,
below 50% moisture for the un
sealed unit. Compaction and
distribution should be as even as
possible.
And, if anyone in the family ever
sees a brownish yellow gas floating
around the silo area, immediately
leave the area and call the fire
department. The gas at this stage
is very dangerous and could ignite
at any tune.
In conjunction with the Cum
berland County Fire Department,
the Cumberland County Extension
Service is offering seminars and
literature on fire safety on the
farm to help educate the fanner
about such tire hazards.
Along with farm fire safety,
Watts spoke about general fire
prevention practices that should be
used in the home.
"Due to inflation of heating costs
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