Avoiding Field & Combine Fires

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Avoiding Field & Combine Fires
Duane Friend, University of Illinois Extension

We’ve been hearing about range and brush fires out west all year long. Now, the threat has come to the corn belt. Todd Gleason has more on how farmers can work to avoid combine and field fires this harvest season.

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Dry conditions from the Dakota’s to Illinois should keep farmers wary of accidentally starting a fire. It’s not something that aren’t used to thinking about each harvest, but one to take special note of this season says Duane Friend from the University of Illinois.

Friend :37 …and you can end up with a field fire.

Quote Summary - And it is one of those things where you may have a combine or a truck out in the field and field fires don’t always just start immediately. Sometimes they can start from plant materials which have been smoldering for 15 to 30 minutes. So, if somebody is driving a vehicle with a hot exhaust pipe through a field and it comes in contact with some dry residue. It can smolder, a gust of wind comes along, and you can end up with a field fire.

A little prevention goes a long ways in this case says Friend. It starts with keeping the combine clean.

Friend :56 …recessed areas near fuel tanks and lines.

Quote Summary - Making sure the chaff is blown off every evening. If the combine is in the field, use a portable air tank. One of the big things with combine fires is having a hydraulic line break and spray fluid over the engine. It is important to check the lines for wear and bulges. It’s also important to remove plant materials from near bearing, belts, and other moving parts because these can generate heat. Check the exhaust pipes, too. Even clean off the recessed areas near fuel tanks and lines.

The best thing to do if a field fire starts is to first call 911 to get help on the way. If there are fire extinguishers on hand and a decision is to try and fight the fire, try to fight it from the black areas of the field, or those places that have already been burned.