fires in woodchippings  Don Staples dstaples at Fri Mar 14
11:42:01 EST 1997  D Pal wrote: > Also does anyone know of a
fire that has actually been started in this way? > I would be
grateful for any help received on this subject. > Thanks, >
Aunkon.  stack fires are not unusual in the TExas heat and
humidity.  Both bark  and chip piles catch from spontanious
combustion.  Normally the point of  ignition is within the
stack, not on the surface, with a slow smoldering  fire that is
a terror to put out.  Here, heat build up can begin within a
few days of pile construction.  Some fires have started in chip
vans that  have been loaded from standing piles and set in the
van for a few days,  or the temperature of the chips is such
that when exposed to air they  ignite fairly readily.  With
current markets the piles don't usually stand long enough
without  some working of the material.  Keeping the material
rolling releases the  heat build up, drys it out some, and
reduces the number of flair ups.  Sorry, nothing sci