Author Topic: Can compost heaps catch fire?  (Read 2680 times)

Pancho

  • لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
Can compost heaps catch fire?
« on: 26 May, 2014, 06:02:07 pm »
I stuck a fork in one of mine today and it's hot, hot, hot.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #1 on: 26 May, 2014, 06:07:48 pm »
Wouldn't surprise me.

A small office block near here used a compost-driven heating unit for a couple of years.

With a suitable container you could probably cook lunch in yours.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #2 on: 26 May, 2014, 06:12:29 pm »
I know the one at Kew Gardens (one of, if not the, largest in Europe apparently) can reach temperatures of well over 60 degrees in the middle. 
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #3 on: 26 May, 2014, 06:16:46 pm »
Yes.  Happened to the Bournville one five or six years ago.
No actual flames obv, but whispy smoke for a few days.  Cured by the application of pee plus leaving the top off during a rain storm.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #4 on: 26 May, 2014, 06:25:41 pm »
I have heard of it happening. I think it is very much like peat and my dad have tried to put out many peat fires over the years.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #5 on: 26 May, 2014, 11:56:49 pm »
There was a big one burning in Beenham, in west Berkshire, for several months.
"A woman on a bicycle has all the world before her where to choose; she can go where she will, no man hindering." The Type-Writer Girl, 1897

Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #6 on: 27 May, 2014, 08:09:27 am »
I've got rats living in mine.

Not for long though.

Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #7 on: 08 July, 2014, 08:21:42 pm »
The pineapple pit at Heligan was heated by rotting down horse manure. You can get a fair heat from rotting.
But I wouldn't expect a domestic sized heap to actually ignite.
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #8 on: 08 July, 2014, 10:26:25 pm »
I know the one at Kew Gardens (one of, if not the, largest in Europe apparently) can reach temperatures of well over 60 degrees in the middle.

Those at Kew are drive-in enormous. The rats love them.

Nearest I have managed was last summer when I emptied what I thought were the dead remnants of a bonfire on to one of our heaps. It wasn't until the following day that I noticed wisps of smoke from the top of the garden.

Re: Can compost heaps catch fire?
« Reply #9 on: 27 December, 2014, 03:27:13 pm »
Yes they can as can hay stacks. Due to the dampness and the bacteria getting busy the temps can be astonishing. I measured one of mine at 160F. Mainly chickweed, hence lots of water so.....

PH
Bees do nothing invariably.