Preventing hay fires in barns

Listen to this radio show (MP3 download) or read below.

Radio interview source: Laurie Loveman, barn safety consultant

When we're making hay, we keep a tight watch on the weather. We want it as dry as can be. Strange as it sounds, if the hay is too soggy, you're risking a fire.

Barn Safety Consultant Laurie Loveman says when bales are stored with too much moisture in them, microorganisms begin to feed and multiply, generating heat.

Hay should be baled at a moisture concentration of 20 percent or less. Make sure you know how well-cured the hay is before putting it in the barn.

"And then once it's in the barn, you have to measure the temperature," Loveman says. "And temperatures reach different levels, then you have different concerns as far as what might be happening in the middle of that stack of hay that you can't see. Because it could be heating up very slowly, and not getting enough oxygen to burn. But if a hay bale is removed and oxygen is allowed in, that whole stack goes instantly."

New hay should be checked twice a day for six weeks, because fresh-baled hay carries the most risk for spontaneous combustion.