After doing a cleanup at a large commercial property Saturday, I got a phone call in the morning on Monday from the plant supervisor telling me that my mulch is burning up.... At that point I figured that they were just busting my balls like they usually do, so then I said "really??"....They asked what do you want us to do? I said jokingly, drag those sprinklers out and start watering then call the fire dept......Still thinking they were pulling my leg, I drive over to the plant and see the facility shrouded in a haze.....my stomach is hitting the floor as I pull up and see 4 employees trying to put out a smoldering mulch fire. It appears that the mulch ignited on it's own because of the heat build up in front of the building & the reflective glass. It was like I was in a bad dream as I tried to figure out how it happened and what to do....I thought maybe it was a cigarette, but I saw it happen with my own two eyes...out of no where, the mulch would start smoking and randomly smolder like a cancer. What the heck is going on here??? I heard this has happened to others in our area this year....Any insights? Has this ever happened to you??? What would be the legal proceedings had this caused property damage, and will it flare up again??
![Image]()
Spontaneous Combusting Mulch!! Must See & Read!!
PetalsandPines
1 - 20 of 61 Posts
Joined
·
257 Posts
After doing a cleanup at a large commercial property Saturday, I got a phone call in the morning on Monday from the plant supervisor telling me that my mulch is burning up.... At that point I figured that they were just busting my balls like they usually do, so then I said "really??"....They asked what do you want us to do? I said jokingly, drag those sprinklers out and start watering then call the fire dept......Still thinking they were pulling my leg, I drive over to the plant and see the facility shrouded in a haze.....my stomach is hitting the floor as I pull up and see 4 employees trying to put out a smoldering mulch fire. It appears that the mulch ignited on it's own because of the heat build up in front of the building & the reflective glass. It was like I was in a bad dream as I tried to figure out how it happened and what to do....I thought maybe it was a cigarette, but I saw it happen with my own two eyes...out of no where, the mulch would start smoking and randomly smolder like a cancer. What the heck is going on here??? I heard this has happened to others in our area this year....Any insights? Has this ever happened to you??? What would be the legal proceedings had this caused property damage, and will it flare up again??
![Image]()
Joined
·
257 Posts
another pic
![Image]()
Joined
·
257 Posts
I think I may have seen the devil, but man this is weird! And it's Buffalo, it was only 67 degrees that day
Joined
·
4,956 Posts
I use to get the clippings off my yard to use in the garden and would leave them in a very very big pile (a few cubic yards or more) and if you dug into the pile (smelly) it got very very hot in there. So I took the garden tractor and blade and moved the pile every few days so that it could "stir" to prevent burning 
I don't do that with grass anymore but I do keep leaves for the garden and they sometimes get warm but not near to the grass. Never seen mulch get that hot, thanks for getting the pics lol. Thats funny.
I don't do that with grass anymore but I do keep leaves for the garden and they sometimes get warm but not near to the grass. Never seen mulch get that hot, thanks for getting the pics lol. Thats funny.
Joined
·
218 Posts
I left grass clippings sit in my truck for a couple days once. When I went to the compost center to dump it one of the guys at the center that I knew pretty well looked at the steam rolling off of my bed said to wait a minute . He came out of the office with a big probe themometer and shoved it into the grass in my bed. I just about fell over as I watched it clime to 165. He told me that theyhad to be careful that there mulch didn't sit after it had gotten wet as it would get so hot it would start to smolder.
I have seen mulch piles do that (steam) after a rain, but nothing like that. I have have wet mulch loaded into my trailer before that was smoldering (actually cooling off) from the heat. Going down the road with mulch steaming in the trailer,lol.
Joined
·
261 Posts
I'm thinking thats God's way of saying he doesnt like your work.
Joined
·
257 Posts
What's with all the religous comments tonight? This is not funny, this is serious.....That is a 25 Million dollar building behind it, you wouldn't laugh if this was one of your properties.
Joined
·
6,876 Posts
That's called; "decomposing", that is how mulch is made. Surprised you didn't ask him to email you.Originally posted by BushHogBoy
I use to get the clippings off my yard to use in the garden and would leave them in a very very big pile (a few cubic yards or more) and if you dug into the pile (smelly) it got very very hot in there. So I took the garden tractor and blade and moved the pile every few days so that it could "stir" to prevent burning
Funny as the jokes are, this is serious. How dry was that mulch?
Sometimes this time of year the sun is at the right angle to magnify the rays and get real hot, looks like yours got real hot.
Remember the magnifying glass and the dry grass, or match stick?
3 years ago I lost a 120 yrd pile of mulch to a cigarette butt, so I do feel your pain.
Joined
·
4,956 Posts
Gee no kidding? Wow man you are smart
Joined
·
1,661 Posts
fire department gets called often for mulch fires, wether its just a garden to one of the local supply companies piles. one night at the supplier we had a mulch fire that lasted for hours.
Joined
·
75 Posts
Sometimes when we bailed hay on the farm I worked for, we salted the hay if it was damp. We had large round bails that would smolder and catch on fire. I understandf that the salting helps eliminate spontaneous combustion, somehow...
Don't know if you can do that to mulch, probaly effect surrounding plants, eh?
Don't know if you can do that to mulch, probaly effect surrounding plants, eh?
It appears that the sun is directly behind you in the pictures, so the windows would have to create a prism effect of some sort to heat that area. Did you place your hand in the light path to see if enough heat could possibly be generated by sun light?
IÂ’d talk to your mulch supplier and find out where they got it. Perhaps some chemical treated wood was used for the mulch that could create this condition or even a unique exotic wood of some type was used (vampire wood maybe ).
IÂ’d also call the Fire Marshall to come look at it, this is what they live for, and he should be able to get to the bottom of this.
I know I made a wise crack (sorry) but this isnÂ’t really funny, it could be a very expensive problem. IÂ’d be interested to know what the final outcome. Good luck.
Rick
IÂ’d talk to your mulch supplier and find out where they got it. Perhaps some chemical treated wood was used for the mulch that could create this condition or even a unique exotic wood of some type was used (vampire wood maybe
). IÂ’d also call the Fire Marshall to come look at it, this is what they live for, and he should be able to get to the bottom of this.
I know I made a wise crack (sorry) but this isnÂ’t really funny, it could be a very expensive problem. IÂ’d be interested to know what the final outcome. Good luck.
Rick
1 - 20 of 61 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
