Burn Pile near catastrophe

   / Burn Pile near catastrophe #31  
I was grading a million dollar house when "old Joe" the gardener threw a can of gas on the brush pile in a 15-25MPH wind. He bent down to light it with a bic and it practically exploded. Joe jumped back, started shaking his head, got into his beat up station wagon, with the mower handles sticking out the back, and LEFT. I'm the only one left on the property with this huge bonfire blowing towards the woods. Oh great, the neighbors are gonna call the fire dept. and I'll be standing here looking like an idiot. I ran for the hose, and it was naturally about 50 feet short. Ran around the house looking for more hose, no luck. Nobody home, no cell phone, and truck hooked to the equipment trailer. I decided the best thing I could do was get the tractor over there and at least act like I was watching it when the fire trucks show up. I figured there was no way the neighbors wouldn't be making a call.

15 minutes later the fire started to die down, my panic level went down with it, and Joe pulls in the driveway. I was gonna lay into that idiot.

"Where the **** did you go? What the **** are you doing lighting this fire on a day like this with the wind blowing?"

"I had to go home and change, had a wet fart"

Man, I laughed so hard I almost had a wet fart.
 
   / Burn Pile near catastrophe #32  
StealthDump said:
I was grading a million dollar house when "old Joe" the gardener threw a can of gas on the brush pile in a 15-25MPH wind. He bent down to light it with a bic and it practically exploded. Joe jumped back, started shaking his head, got into his beat up station wagon, with the mower handles sticking out the back, and LEFT. I'm the only one left on the property with this huge bonfire blowing towards the woods. Oh great, the neighbors are gonna call the fire dept. and I'll be standing here looking like an idiot. I ran for the hose, and it was naturally about 50 feet short. Ran around the house looking for more hose, no luck. Nobody home, no cell phone, and truck hooked to the equipment trailer. I decided the best thing I could do was get the tractor over there and at least act like I was watching it when the fire trucks show up. I figured there was no way the neighbors wouldn't be making a call.

15 minutes later the fire started to die down, my panic level went down with it, and Joe pulls in the driveway. I was gonna lay into that idiot.

"Where the **** did you go? What the **** are you doing lighting this fire on a day like this with the wind blowing?"

"I had to go home and change, had a wet fart"

Man, I laughed so hard I almost had a wet fart.
Click to expand...


Around here you have to get a burn permit, and be there the whole time with a hose, shovel etc. If you didn't get a permit, didn't follow safety you are liable for the damages and the suppression costs. If "old Joe" had come back to a smoldering house, about 50 fire fighters and several million in charges he would have had the mother of all wet farts!!
 
   / Burn Pile near catastrophe #33  
I have the same rules as the Maine Polack, if its not raining I am not burning. However, I have made a fire pit on occasion and have fed a fire over the course of a day. When I was up in MI working on my property this fall I burned the pile left from last year it was 6x20x20. It burned up in about 3 hours to ash.

This year I cleared about two acres and pushed it up into a pile. It was about 8x20x40. I was afraid that I would not get that pile burned it had stumps and old rotted logs and trees in it. Luckily, 2 days before I needed to head back to MO it started raining, after dinner I went and lit it. It was raining so hard that I had to relight it several times. Finally, it got going and by midnight, it was ash and I stirred it up good and put dirt with the FEL on it. My wife wants to get a chipper and not hassle with burning but I figure until she takes me out shopping for one I will continue to burn.

You just have to make sure that you have a cleared area around your fire and if it has been dry out and it starts raining maybe, you need to wait. Let common sense prevail. I also understand that things can get out of control with a fire.

I remember about 20 years ago I was off loading potato’s up near Caribou, ME in late fall and it had been dry and a farm truck was backing up to the Potato House and I believe it backfired and set the dry grass on fire. The wind was blowing just right and the fire took off across the dry hay field, hit the wood line, and started some dry evergreens and some alders on fire. Someone had to drive to call the fire dept and it was getting ugly fast I think there was about 3 or 4 of us trying to slap out the fire, finally after it seems like an hour the FD showed and it seemed like within 10 minutes it was all out and we back to off loading potatoes.
 
   / Burn Pile near catastrophe #34  
Too add a few random thoughts if I may.

A water hose is always too small and usualy to short.
A set of disc harrows or a bottom plow works well.
Now is the time to finish that pile,while all the fuel around it has burned.
Small backfires in the grass do a good job.
If you have called the FD 3 times in a row, Have a cooler of gatoraide ready.
Dont ever park a 4 wheeler near a fire line( Dont ask, its ugly)
NEVER leave a burn pile, as mentioned even going for a drink is bad,
If you think you dont like being out in the weather with your burn pile I REALY dont like to be out in the weather with your burn pile....
when plowing a fire line, make it twice as wide as you think you neeed then make one more pass with the tractor.
If you have any neighbors that can see your 30' flames, let them know you are burning,so we dont get a call for a structure fire.
some one with a cell phone will call in a structure fire
the fireman will be as nice as you are, most of the time. you dont want to see the mess I can make of your pile and yard with 2500 gallons of water through the deck gun at 200psi when you beligerently tell me that Im not gonna put your fire out.
Check the local laws, Some places can not burn after dark.
firemen dont like dragging hose through unfamilar woods in the dark!
after 3 or 4 of theese calls on a sat afternoon, your local Vol FD members are hot, tired, want a shower,beer,and nap. and to complete whatever honey do's are on their list for the weekend.


now some serious advise


Have someone meet the FD at the ROAD.
be aware that fire trucks weigh alot, we will leave ruts in your yard.
Fire trucks and septic tanks dont mix well please let us know where they are.
bridges and narrow treelined drive ways should be made to fit a fire truck.
If you have a dry hydrant in your pond let us know, If you dont then check and see how much it would reduce your insurance.

sorry for the rant I ran on 4 of these last weekend.
 
   / Burn Pile near catastrophe #35  
I have burned some big piles, 20-30 feet long by 10 feet tall and 15 feet wide.

At the time I had to pull permits. I would guess for every permit I used, I pulled three or four that did not get used. I would check the weather and try to time the burn right after a heavy rain with rain on the way. Burns only happen in the winter. Once winter is here the trees don't pull the water out of the ground, and if we are having the usual rainfall, the ground stay saturated. There can be no winds in the forecast. Usually if the front just came through we would have calm winds. The ground would be wet and I could burn.

I had to drive across a large lake to get to the property. If I saw wind. No burn. If I got to the property and wind had picked up, no burn. If it had not rained like it was supposed too, no burn. If the tractor was not ready, no burn. If the man on my shoulder said no burn. No burn.

Thus I would pull 3/4 permits for every one I used.

I had no water at the time so the only way to stop a fire was the tractor, a rake and a shovel. When the tractor was really booming, usually the first two hours, I would not turn off the tractor. Usually all day. It was the only tool I had to really stop an escaping fire. I never had a fire escape though. The ground was always wet and most grass had been pushed into the dirt around the pile. I did have some grass catch fire once but there was not place for it to go so I watched it to learn what it would do before it put itself out.

I have a pile that is as large as a two story house. Hopefully I'll get a drum grinder to make mulch. If I burn it, I'll see if I can get the local VFD to come watch with me. It is a very scary pile......

Later,
Dan
 
   / Burn Pile near catastrophe #36  
I just came across this thread, and have a few thoughts to add.
My experience has been both as the burner (landowner/farmer) and the extinguisher (firefighter).

A mistake that many make is trying to burn a large pile all at once, instead of making a small hot fire, and feeding the fuel into the pile. Large piles are difficult to ignite, usually have a lot of dirt/rocks mixed in, and create a tremendous amount of smoke. When they finally start to burn hot, the fire grows large quickly, overwhelming the burners ability and extinguishing resources, if any, that are on hand. The fire transferes its heat to other combustible objects & fuels by radiation to the their surface, and convective winds, especially upwind and uphill of the fire area, that both heat and dry the fuels in its path.

The rule of thumb concerning a building fire is that the fire size doubles every five minutes, limited by the availible fuel and oxygen. A burn pile has a tremendous surface fuel area, combined with an unlimited air/oxygen supply.
Add in a wind condition, as others have noted, and fire will spread out of your control. When planning your burn, you also have to pre-plan the area around the burn area, based on the terrain, fuel moisture, availible water supply, prevailing wind & direction, proximity to structures (including off your property), access to the burn area, and local fire dept.(FD) availibility and ability.

Most burns are conducted away from a telephone, and cell phone service.
Don't be embarassed to call the FD for help, sooner than later. A brush/woods/wildfire is a very labor intensive operation for the FD. The earlier that the FD can intervine and operate to control the fire, the faster it will be to contain, limiting the damage.

Even firefighters can be caught up in a fast growing wildlands fire. Five firefighters were killed last month in California, burned to death in their fire apparatus, when the fire overran their position. Please remember them in your thoughts & prayers.

To sum up my thoughts;

If you decide to burn stuff, properly prepare the site, including aquiring any needed permits & permissions

Keep the fire small & hot, feeding the fire with the fuel. I use a 10' x 10' max size pile, which is controlable and extinguishable if needed. This takes some more work, but the brush/fuel is consumed quickly.

Have your help, water & tools ready to go, before starting the fire.

Have a method on site to call the FD if needed. Most permits require notifing the FD when conducting a burn.

If you are not comfortable with the weather conditions, or in taking responsibilty for what might occur, don't burn.

After the flames die off, the fire area can remain hot with coals for days, especially if large logs or stumps are burned. The area must remain under observation until final extinguishment.

The weather in CT. has been rather wet lately, which keeps the fire activity down. When a firefighter gives you their opinion, grab a seat, it will take awhile.

Happy Tractoring:

WALT
 
   / Burn Pile near catastrophe #37  
The last time I burned my burn pile, I had a large piece of cottonwood that was still smoldering nearly two weeks after I lit the fire.
 
   / Burn Pile near catastrophe #38  
When they built the NJ Turnpike, they had burn piles that were huge and then they buried them, before the stumps, etc. were fully extinguished. I have been told that these fires continue to burn underground to this day. There are similiar events in PA in abandoned coal mines. The link discusses one that has been burning since 1915... 91 years!!!:eek:
Dusty
 
   / Burn Pile near catastrophe
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