EMERGENCY service officials urged caution after a spike in haystack fires this fire danger period.
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The Country Fire Authority has responded to 30 haystack fires in the Wimmera and Mallee regions since the start of the fire danger period.
The fire authority’s District 17 operations officer Lindsay Barry said there was a higher number of haystack fires than the previous fire danger seasons. He narrowed the problem down to significant rainfall that added moisture to the hay bales.
“While haystack fires are not uncommon, we certainly have seen a spike this fire season,” he said.
In the right conditions, Mr Barry said a haystack fire could easily become a serious grass fire that puts communities at risk.
“Couple a haystack fire with a severe fire danger day and increased winds then we are going to get a fast travelling fire,” he said.
Mr Barry said emergency crews had stopped the spread of haystack fires before they posed a serious threat.
However, the authority’s fire crews responded to a haystack fire on Friday, which was a state-wide Total Fire Ban day. The fire became a small grass fire and ignited an unused farm house at Kalkee.
Mr Barry said the landowners were lucky the structure was unoccupied. He said the incident showed the risk haystack and grass fires posed.
The key is keep it as a haystack fire and keep them as small as possible.
- Lindsay Barry
Mr Barry said haystack fires were not “overly dangerous,” but only when caught before further spreading. He said identification was essential to reduce the risk.
“It is about getting the information out to farmers about what to look for and how to mitigate the risk,” he said.
“The key visual identification is drooping or sagging of the bales or, in the early hours of the morning and late hours of the day, farmers would see steam rising from the stack.
“Another identification is the smell of hay – either a tobacco, caramel or cigar smell. But, a tried-and-true method was using a piece of metal to stick in the stack and the heat transfers if the stack was hot inside.”
Couple a haystack fire with a severe fire danger day and increased winds then we are going to get a fast travelling fire.
- Lindsay Barry
Once the problem has been identified, Mr Barry said people need to put a plan in place to stop the spread.
“The plan should be to remove the bales from the stack and spread them out and allow air to move around them,” he said. “Then put an earth breaker around the bales to stop the spread, it will not 100 per cent prevent a grass fire and will not stop haystacks from burning, but it reduces the risk.
“Most importantly, notify the local captain or CFA brigade.
“The key is keep it as a haystack fire and keep them as small as possible.”
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