108 hay bales lost in Thiele Farm fire Thursday night
Spontaneous combustion is believed to be the cause of a fire at Thiele Dairy Farm that burned 108 hay bales and a small structure late Thursday, June 29.
“When you pack that hay tight with a baler, it can eventually mold and spontaneously combust,” said William Thiele, owner of the farm in Jefferson Township.
Crews fought the blaze for several hours, arriving on scene around midnight and leaving around 4:30 a.m. Friday, June 30, according to Chris Dean, chief of Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company.
The bales were packed inside a 50-by-30-foot structure covered with a tarp-like fabric, called a hay hoop, Thiele said. Only the metal frame of the structure remains.
“It was a matter of getting them out and pulling (the bales) apart to put it out,” Dean said.
The structure was approximately 25 feet from the barn, where the farm houses dairy cows. Thiele said the family owns 80 to 85 cows.
“It definitely was a threat to the barn. A lot of smoke went in ... we used fans to push it out,” he said.
Total value of the hay and structure is estimated at $8,500, he added, and he said there has been communication with the insurance company about the damage.
Thiele said spontaneous combustion can happen when hay is a little too wet. A chemical reaction causes it to heat up and start burning.
“With young hay, you think it’s dry, but when you pack it together, a lot of sap is left in it,” he said. “If the hay was a little more mature, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”
The moisture may have occurred as a result of the rain in Butler on Monday and Tuesday.
Considering wet hay can spontaneously combust, Edward Thiele, William’s father, said he expects smoke and potentially fire to continue in the hay for the next seven to 10 days.
