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.
