Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
8/30/02
Contacts:
Mark Hanna, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, (515) 294-0468, hmhanna@iastate.edu
Jean McGuire, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515) 294-7033,
jmcguire@iastate.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Combine and Tractor Fires Pose Serious Harvest Problems
AMES, Iowa -- Richard Kingery knew something was wrong when he caught a flicker of light coming from the rear of his combine. He was working late in a soybean field near Pleasantville, and had turned off his headlights while he emptied the crop into a wagon.
He ran back, just as winds fanned a flame in the engine compartment. Within five minutes, his New Holland combine was engulfed. It burned for another hour, exploding as fire ignited hydraulic lines, a transmission reservoir and finally the fuel tank. Kingery could only watch, hoping the blaze would not spread to the rest of his field before emergency crews arrived.
Luckily, the 58-year-old Marion County farmer escaped serious injury last year. But his equipment was a total loss, half of his soybean crop was still in the field, and he had not yet started to harvest corn.
"A combine or tractor fire can halt harvest activities in an instant," says Mark Hanna, Iowa State University Extension agricultural and biosystems engineer. "Unfortunately, equipment fires happen all too often in Iowa, causing millions of dollars in property damage, lost time and crops during one of the busiest seasons of the year."
In Iowa, equipment damage alone totaled $2.1 million from 174 reported fires that involved tractors, combines and harvesters in 1998 (the most current year for which information is available from the State Fire Marshal's Office). Nationwide, combine and tractor fires are believed to cause $20 million in property losses and 40 to 50 serious injuries each year.
Harvest is a prime time for fire dangers, even when the weather has not been warm and dry. Fuel sources such as leaves, stalks, husks, dust, oil and fuel are always present when harvesting fields, and so are numerous sources of ignition on farm equipment or transport vehicles including exhaust, bearings, and electrical wiring. Time constraints and weather conditions also can add to the problem.
Fire safety in the field has two key components -- prevention and preparation in case a fire does break out," Hanna said. "Both are important, and can mean the difference between disaster and controlling the situation for a minimum of damage or work stoppage."
Hanna offers these tips to prevent combine fires:
* Begin harvest season with a clean machine, paying attention to the engine and engine compartment where 75 percent of all machinery fires start. Use a pressure washer or high pressure air to remove caked-on grease, oil and crop residue.
* Check engine fluid levels (such as coolant and oil) at the beginning of each day.
* Check the pressurized oil supply line to the turbocharger shaft for areas that may rub from wear and start an oil leak.
* Frequently blow leaves and chaff off the engine with compressed air or a portable leaf blower, and remove wrapped plant materials on or near bearings, belts or other moving parts.
* Examine exhaust or hot bearing surfaces. Repair leaking fuel or oil hoses, fittings, or metal lines immediately.
Hanna advises all operators to carry two ABC-type fire extinguishers: a smaller 10-lb. unit in the cab and a larger 20-lb. extinguisher at the ground level on the combine. Invert the extinguishers once or twice a season and shake them to ensure that powder inside the extinguisher hasn't compacted by machine vibrations. He also suggests that operators carry a shovel to scoop dirt onto a fire, and a cellular telephone to call fire department personnel.
In addition to the combine, Hanna said grain transport or pick-up trucks with exhaust systems below the chassis also can ignite field fires. Catalytic converters operate at several hundred degrees.
"Field fires are sometimes started with the passing of a truck, and flames may not be noticed for 15 to 30 minutes," he said. "It's a good idea to not allow extra truck traffic through the field when conditions for fire are favorable."
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REMEMBER FIRE SAFETY DURING HARVEST (30 seconds)
You're ready for the last full week of harvest. The weather is perfect, the fields are dry, and you can count the rounds left in this field.
Then you smell smoke. You stop the combine, jump off, just in time to see orange flames and smoke starting to pour out of the engine compartment. Your harvest has halted.
Be prepared for combine fires by carrying two ABC-type extinguishers -- one in the cab and one at ground level. Prevent fires by keeping your combine clean and in good working order. Remember that harvest is a prime time for fire safety.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: A jpg image of Richard Kingery's fire-damaged combine is posted at the Iowa State University Extension farm safety web site: http://www.ae.iastate.edu/Safety.htm.
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