By Ashley Lutz
The Columbus Dispatch
LICKING COUNTY, Ohio — Twice in less than a week, Licking County barns burned to the ground after hay stored in them spontaneously combusted, fire officials said.
Spontaneous combustion can occur when moist hay is stored and microbes grow, generating heat, said Marc Sulc, a forage agronomist at Ohio State University. This usually happens in summer because the microbes thrive in warm weather.
Phil and Donna Shipley’s barn on Reynolds Drive just southwest of Utica in Burlington Township burned down Monday after numerous Licking and Knox County fire departments fought the blaze for seven hours. Damage totaled $250,000, including a tractor and a feed mixer. Mr. Shipley was a Licking County commissioner from 1979 until 1994.
A similar fire occurred July 7, when several departments fought a Washington Township barn fire on Bell Church Road east of Utica, along the Knox County line. The fire cost owners Donald and Patty Cornelius about $80,000 in damage. One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion.
Most farmers use special dryers or microwaves to make sure the hay contains less than 20 percent moisture, Sulc said. But sometimes measurements aren’t precise, and it can be difficult to determine when hay is safe to store.
The owners of the barns that burned said they took steps to prevent spontaneous combustion.
Donna Shipley, 72, said the family has stored hay in the barn since it was built seven years ago. The Shipleys made sure the hay was dry enough and applied a special preservative four weeks ago to prevent microbial growth.
But such preservatives can wear off, and once microbes start growing, it doesn’t take long for the hay to reach 350 to 400 degrees and burst into flame, Sulc said.
Some farmers store their hay before it is dry enough because they want to beat coming rain that would set them back further, said Homer Assistant Fire Chief Allen Bash, who worked on the Shipley fire.
Bash has fought similar fires in the past.
“It happens just about every summer; the hay is moist and they pack it in there and it just gets too hot,” he said.
Patty Cornelius said she and her husband, lifelong farmers who are now 80, were careful about drying and storing the hay and never expected that a fire would hit them.
“We are so grateful for the fire department,” Cornelius said. “I don’t know what we would have done otherwise.”
Copyright 2009 The Columbus Dispatch
All Rights Reserved