CA: Spontaneous combustion of manure starts 200-acre blaze

ap on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 1/7/07 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

The spontaneous combustion of a manure pile sparked a blaze that grew to about 200 acres Sunday, fire officials said.

No injuries were reported and no structures were threatened.

The blaze, dubbed the Red Star Fire because of its origins at the Red Star Fertilizer Co., was 50 percent contained, said Jonathan Pangburn, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry.

The fire was expected to be fully contained by late Sunday.

The blaze, which consisted of a main 175-acre fire and several smaller ones, was reported shortly before 5 a.m. It was partially burning in Prado Regional Park near Highway 71, the Prado Basin Park and the Mill Creek Drainage basin, an area marked by willow trees and mixed brush.

A total of 400 firefighters, backed by four air tankers and several helicopters, battled the blaze complicated by winds gusts of 20 to 25 miles per hour blowing from the north and northeast.

Red flag warnings were in effect until 6 p.m. Monday.

[NormsRevenge]

Holy S....!

Spontaneous Combustion Happens!

[GSlob]

What a crap!

[greyfoxx39]

Anyone know the whereabouts of Bill Clinton?

[Revolting cat!]

It's hitting the fan!

[billhilly]

When this happens in Congress, entire nations burn.

[penelopesire]

lol....

[bannie]

Hot poop.

[Right Wing Assault]

Anyone know the whereabouts of Bill Clinton?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind.

[tubebender]

Something smells here...

[ArmstedFragg]

I used to live near a mushroom farm. They took in 'used straw' from local stables to feed their crop. Fires were a regular event. You have to bulldoze the darn things to get them put out. Really delightful to be downwind of, too.

[lawdude]

Pelosi's district, I bet.

[Brilliant]

Biomass pollutes the air.

[NormsRevenge]

We never had a pile combust on the farm ,never had that huge a piles but I know of what you speak odor and proximity / wind-wise.

[GoldCountryRedneck]

Global Warming crowd will probably protest tomorrow...

[WideGlide]

The EPA should order Californians to stop eating all that spicey Mexican food.

[Delta 21]

You can just hear the ozone layer deteriorating!

[fat city]

Oh oh- I'd better go out and clean up the dog crap in the backyard.

[JoeFromSidney]

It's not just manure and "used" straw that does this. I've seen haystacks combust spontaneously after a rain. The water enabled bacteria growth inside the haystack, the hay insulated the growth and kept the warmth in, until it got hot enough to ignite the hay.

[bannie]

Locally, seasonally, there are heaps (!) of almond shells: Huge sprinkler systems keep them from flaming up.

[DigitalVideoDude]

Seriously.. I live in OC. We are experiencing the infamous Santa Ana winds this weekend. I woke up this morning and went out for the paper. It's not unusual to smell a brush fire on windy days like this. Sure enough it's been smelling of fire all day and the sky has been smokey (No smell of manure though). We have looked hard in the local media for any news about a brush fire in the area with nothing reported. Until I read this in Free Republic, I had no idea what was burning.