CFA District 20 assistant chief officer Peter Taylor reminded farmers to ensure haystacks are prepared well and bales were stored safely.
“We are urging all Campaspe region farmers to take care of their hay and crops this bushfireseason,” he said.
“If hay is stored in a shed, ensure air can circulate around the haystacks, monitor stacks on a regular basis, check for heat levels and avoid walking on stacks in case they collapse due to internal heating.
“Keep your haystacks out of the rain to avoid fluctuating moisture content.”
CO Taylor said if not monitored, haystacks posed a fire danger which couldoccupy crucial firefighting resources during Victoria’s bushfire season.
“When a haystack ignites, depending on the size of the stack, it can remain burning and smoulder over a long period and CFA crews are often required to monitor it for several days to make sure it doesn’t spread,” he said.
“Haystack fires can start quite easily from lightning strikes, sparks from equipment andmachinery, but a major source of ignition is spontaneous combustion of the haybalesthemselves.”
Spontaneous combustion can occur when hay has either not properly cured before baling, ornot stored to protect it from rain or damp conditions, meaning moisture content in the bales are higher than the recommended level.
This can happen to any hay bales, regardless of size. After baling, check the heat and smell of the bales before stacking them into haysheds or large external stacks, and leave any suspect bales separate from the rest.
Hot bales will often omit an odour like burning tobacco, and heat inside bales can be detected by inserting a steel rod or crowbar into the centre of a bale or stack of hay.
Since 2008, CFA has responded to about 1600 haystack fires.
By producing hay in the right conditions and checking bales for heat before stacking haystacks, you can limit the chances of adding this seasons hay to those statistics and save yourself from loss of valuable fodder and other costly impacts of a fire.
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