It's so hot horse poop is spontaneously combusting! (Not the Onion!)

[Archae]

More horse manure spontaneous combustion

Posted on 7/28/2016 1:37:00 PM by 610 CKTB News

It's been so hot in upstate New York that horse manure is spontaneously combusting.

The state's Department of Environmental Conservation responded to multiple complaints earlier this month about the smell and smoke emanating from a burning pile of horse manure in the Finger Lakes region.

It took three local fire departments two hours to douse the burning manure.

In Niagara, a fire that started in a pile of manure two weeks ago due to spontaneous combustion showed how easily fire can get out of control due to the continued hot dry conditions in the Region.

St. Catharines Fire Chief Dave Wood says the fire started without any spark or ember and quickly spread to a stable at Sherwood Farms on Oille Street and surrounding trees.

There were no injuries and all the horses in the barn were safely removed.

The fire resulted in 10-thousand dollars in damage.

http://www.1057ezrock.com/news/2016/07/28/more-horse-manure-spontaneous-combustion

[Midnight Writer]

1. Spontaneous combustion also a big danger in grain silos and storage bins

Rotting vegetable matter emit flammable gases, and fermentation of rotting grain forms combustible alcohol.

[Freddie]

2. It's not just drummers anymore!

[Cooley Hurd]

3. The fire in the Finger Lakes...

I know the family it happened to. It burned their farm down.

[hatrack]

4. Same thing when you're baling hay - lots of heat generated

If you're stacking square bales in a barn before the hay has cured, you have to leave air spaces through the stack, otherwise you can lose the barn.

[babylonsister]

5. Hot shit!

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. Decomposition is a major cause of heat.

I've seen piles of freshly chipped wood light themselves after a couple weeks. Grass too.

I could be wrong but I think the word is exothermic.

[Brother Buzz]

7. I'm impressed

The highest temperature I ever achieved in my compost pile was 155°F, and that was working the green, brown, water combinations to really get things cooking. I'm gonna have to hook-up with a stable to increase my horsepower.

[hatrack]

8. People have actually used this to heat houses . .

I was reading a really interesting article about earthship homes.

One way you can provide heat (since it's hard to set an earthship on fire) is to place a metal box in an interior wall, typically in a living area or kitchen, put a wet hay bale in it, and then seal the box shut.

There's just enough oxygen in the sealed box that a slow exothermic process will generate heat directly into the house for months.

Low-tech, but very efficient.