Where should you burn?

[stihly dan]

A bark fire 4 ft away from your seasoned wood stacks. NO! Thought I would burn some scraps that where near the wood pile. Seemed ok, wood was up wind, and there really wasn't any. All was fine, nice fire, good company, and good whiskey. UNTIL a T-storm came in, blowing winds in the wrong direction, right at the stacks. Thought for sure I was going to lose 6 cord of seasoned oak. I didn't, but man was it stressful. Should not have done it, will not do it again.

 

[CWME]

That T-Storm roll through tonight? Looked like some nasty wall clouds off NH way just before dark tonight and was wondering if they were t-storms...

Glad you didn't loose your wood pile!

 

[stihly dan]

No, last night. It was the t-storms that blew for a couple of hours before the down pour came. 2 hrs of hell.

 

[Mac88]

That woulda sucked, Stihly. I have too much burnable stuff laying on the ground around my woodpiles (noodles, bark, chips,
splitter junk) to even consider a fire there. All that stuff eventually cleaned up and used or disposed of, but not every time
we do firewood. I think you got lucky. Glad you saved it.

 

[laynes69]

I can't say anything, my burn pile is 10 feet from a 10 cord pile. I only burn small fires and I watch them closely. With our wood at 15% and below moisture it wouldn't take much. It's been so dry here I only burn after a rain.

 

[stihly dan]

That woulda sucked, Stihly. I have too much burnable stuff laying on the ground around my woodpiles (noodles, bark, chips,
splitter junk) to even consider a fire there. All that stuff eventually cleaned up and used or disposed of, but not every time
we do firewood. I think you got lucky. Glad you saved it.

Thats the exact stuff I was stupidly burning. That was how I was cleaning up. Raked it all up and set it aflame.

 

[Chris-PA]

That almost gets me to a panic just reading it! I have been "controlled" burns of fields and brush since I was a teenager working with my Dad, but there have been a couple of times where I have gotten pretty darn close to losing control of one. I know that feeling. To have it get into a few cords would be darn awful!

Glad you saved it!

 

[Mac88]

Thats the exact stuff I was stupidly burning. That was how I was cleaning up. Raked it all up and set it aflame.

Our fire ring is about 20' from the woodshed. That's where we hold our "GTG's". No danger of burning up the wood
at that range. Of course, with this drought we've been having, we don't burn anything. I've got several brush piles
in serious need of a match. ;o)

 

[apattie]

I would like to burn some stuff, but they put a burn ban in effect until Oct. 10th. Not sure why since all it seem to be doing is raining almost every other day. Not steady but down pours from storms. I know grass just keeps on growing!

 

[greendohn]

I've gotta burn ring pretty close to my wood shed and so far, have avoided trouble. Small low key fires which are good for cold beer and southern rock. I also keep a sheet of 3'x3' square of sheet metal leaning against the shed I can use as a "lid".
I've had the wind pick up and the sheet metal has saved me some grief. It pretty much "caps" the burn ring completely and snuffs the flames.
My twin bro' caught my wood pile on fire years ago,,pre-shed days,,I got it hosed down quick, but I had a couple "ricks" which were blackened and pretty dirty to handle..

 

[1grnlwn]

I was burning some weeds this spring and the fire crept over to my giant compost pile, it burned for over a month.

 

[turnkey4099]

I have my burn pile central to various stacks. All at least 50' away. I keep hoses strung so all I need it to connect them and go. I keep the splitting area pretty clean so the pile grows a bit every day.

Have a problem right now. The burn pile is getting a bit bigger than I like and it will be at last 2 months before it will be safe to burn...lacking a nice rain which is unlikely in this area. Talked to my neighbor yesterday. He had a big Willow blow down last year and is still having trouble getting the big stuff to burn. Says I can haul to there if needed.

Harry K

 

[ShaneLogs]

Wow, That is scary! Next time keep it a safe distance away from the wood stacks!

 

[Fred Wright]

Man, that is scary. I'm glad your woodpile is safe.

Yard fires have always worried me, ever since the BIL nearly set a tree on fire. They threw a yard party and built a bonfire under the branches of a big red maple.

We were all three sheets to the wind and didn't pay it much mind at the time. Somebody hollered about the tree being on fire. Sure enough, the bonfire had set the lower branches afire.

It was almost comical... the BIL got the garden hose and was spraying water up in the tree to put the fire out.

He was always one to be in denial and swore that the bonfire didn't cause it. The folks ribbed him about it later, saying a squirrel ran up the tree with a cigarette.

 

[stihly dan]

I was at work one day, and saw a huge tree near a job site. Me and my partner had to check it out. Must have been 6ft in diameter, hollow with 1 side open. We could both stand in it and not be close to each other. There was no top, but 2 3ft leaders opposite each other perfectly horizontal. Anyway my partner snuffed out a cigarette on the tree then stepped on it. We worked in the building for !/2 hr. Came out to grab a tool and the tree was like a torch, 20ft flames straight up out of the center. Fire dept was already there foaming it. Looked like christmas when they where done. An hr later they where back, as it had reignited. I'll never forget that one.

 

[Mac88]

I was at work one day, and saw a huge tree near a job site. Me and my partner had to check it out. Must have been 6ft in diameter, hollow with 1 side open. We could both stand in it and not be close to each other. There was no top, but 2 3ft leaders opposite each other perfectly horizontal. Anyway my partner snuffed out a cigarette on the tree then stepped on it. We worked in the building for !/2 hr. Came out to grab a tool and the tree was like a torch, 20ft flames straight up out of the center. Fire dept was already there foaming it. Looked like christmas when they where done. An hr later they where back, as it had reignited. I'll never forget that one.

You don't come from a long line of pyromaniacs, do you? ;o)

I snuck out around dusk and set off the brush in the fire ring. We've had rain the last couple days so the yard was damp enough to not catch fire. The brush was also wet, and smoked like a Pennsylvania power plant until it got hot enough to flash off. There was a bunch of green splitter junk in the bottom so it burned for a couple hours.

 

[ShaneLogs]

You don't come from a long line of pyromaniacs, do you? ;o)

I snuck out around dusk and set off the brush in the fire ring. We've had rain the last couple days so the yard was damp enough to not catch fire. The brush was also wet, and smoked like a Pennsylvania power plant until it got hot enough to flash off. There was a bunch of green splitter junk in the bottom so it burned for a couple hours.

Do you have to buy burn permits there if it isn't in a closed fire pit ?

 

[Mac88]

Do you have to buy burn permits there if it isn't in a closed fire pit ?

Not here. Most everyone around here burns brush or trash of some sort. We have a big burn pit out back for the stuff we trim off our trees. I recall my outlaws in Maine saying that permits were required. They can have a fire in their chiminea without one.

 

[Dale]

You guys can all take solace in the fact that you aren't quite the a-hole that I am. You know that Pampas Grass stuff that is green in the summer, then gets those Plumes on top at end of summer and dries completely out brown ? Well I have 3 of them that stand about 7 ft high and 4 foot diameter. They sit about 5 feet from my deck, which attaches to my cedar-sided house. My deck is ringed by lattice underneath..... of course. Well, brainchild here gets the bright idea that he's going to burn them off where they stand instead of cutting them down, carrying them off, and burning them in a safer location. Needless to say, a steady breeze picked up in the direction of my house. Complete and utter panic set in. You want to talk about unnerving. LUCKILY we came out of it alright. I really need on of them there "signs" they give out.

 

[Mac88]

You guys can all take solace in the fact that you aren't quite the a-hole that I am. You know that Pampas Grass stuff that is green in the summer, then gets those Plumes on top at end of summer and dries completely out brown ? Well I have 3 of them that stand about 7 ft high and 4 foot diameter. They sit about 5 feet from my deck, which attaches to my cedar-sided house. My deck is ringed by lattice underneath..... of course. Well, brainchild here gets the bright idea that he's going to burn them off where they stand instead of cutting them down, carrying them off, and burning them in a safer location. Needless to say, a steady breeze picked up in the direction of my house. Complete and utter panic set in. You want to talk about unnerving. LUCKILY we came out of it alright. I really need on of them there "signs" they give out.

We're gonna get two. One for you and one for Stihly. ;o)