2 ms·

Yes they do. We went to more than a few hay bale fires as well. Those are also a pain in the ass, and for similar reasons.

jacquesm 6y ago
So what's the procedure like? Pull them apart and then put it out? I'd assume that if you just wet them from the outside you are just setting yourself up for a speedy return to the same location.
- mindcrime 6y ago
  So what's the procedure like? Pull them apart and then put it out? Exactly. Besides trapping heat in, the hay also forms a fairly effective barrier against water getting inside. If you don't rip the bale apart to fully extinguish the seat of the fire, you just wind up right back out there. You can see the process underway in this video, where a bunch of hay bales caught file while on the back of a truck being transported. Scroll a few minutes into the video and you can see where they brought a front-end loader out there to start ripping the bales apart. Using a "wetting agent"[1] also helps, and some departments will use store bought dish soap, like Dawn, for that purpose (purpose made firefighting foam is kinda expensive). https://youtu.be/z1_pAH34wAo https://youtu.be/z1_pAH34wAo [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant
  - jacquesm 6y ago
    Interesting video, especially with a drone over so much hot air. Amazing how much land is already gone. And the truck itself is just a memory while plenty of the bales of hay are still sitting around unharmed, you can really see the 'R' value at work there. It almost looks as though the fire started in the truck itself or on one of the rear brakes, was there a report on the cause of the fire in this particular case? edit: amazing coordination as well, at one point working on the fire in four different places.
    - mindcrime 6y ago
      It almost looks as though the fire started in the truck itself or on one of the rear brakes, was there a report on the cause of the fire in this particular case? I'm afraid I don't know. :-(

jacquesm 6y ago

So what's the procedure like? Pull them apart and then put it out? I'd assume that if you just wet them from the outside you are just setting yourself up for a speedy return to the same location.

mindcrime 6y ago
So what's the procedure like? Pull them apart and then put it out? Exactly. Besides trapping heat in, the hay also forms a fairly effective barrier against water getting inside. If you don't rip the bale apart to fully extinguish the seat of the fire, you just wind up right back out there. You can see the process underway in this video, where a bunch of hay bales caught file while on the back of a truck being transported. Scroll a few minutes into the video and you can see where they brought a front-end loader out there to start ripping the bales apart. Using a "wetting agent"[1] also helps, and some departments will use store bought dish soap, like Dawn, for that purpose (purpose made firefighting foam is kinda expensive). https://youtu.be/z1_pAH34wAo https://youtu.be/z1_pAH34wAo [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant
- jacquesm 6y ago
  Interesting video, especially with a drone over so much hot air. Amazing how much land is already gone. And the truck itself is just a memory while plenty of the bales of hay are still sitting around unharmed, you can really see the 'R' value at work there. It almost looks as though the fire started in the truck itself or on one of the rear brakes, was there a report on the cause of the fire in this particular case? edit: amazing coordination as well, at one point working on the fire in four different places.
  - mindcrime 6y ago
    It almost looks as though the fire started in the truck itself or on one of the rear brakes, was there a report on the cause of the fire in this particular case? I'm afraid I don't know. :-(