Fire Prevention In Barns

PREVENTING BARN FIRES

Everyone knows that barns are combustible, yet so few barn owners practice safe fire prevention, other than perhaps banning smoking, but yet every year hundreds of horses are killed or injured due to barn fires, most of which could have been prevented. There is so much information to cover regarding the prevention of barn fires which will be discussed over the next several weeks.

Some sobering statistics:

· 80-85% of barn fires are caused by human error: smoking in barn’s, welding near combustible material, outdoor burn piles left unattended or electrical in nature. The most common cause of fires is electrical in nature, with heating devices and electrical malfunctions being the most common cause of electrical fires.

· Lightning strikes, fireworks and spilled gas were also leading causes of fires in barns.

· Arson accounts for nearly 15% of fires.

· According to the Animal Welfare Institute, barn fires in 2021 accounted for the deaths of nearly 700,000 farm animals. From 2018-2021, 539 fires killed nearly 3 million animals, the majority of these being poultry and pigs. In this time frame, the economic loss was estimated to be roughly $48 million dollars in property damage annually.

· It is estimated that barn fires cause roughly 100 injuries, 10 fatalities and nearly $300 million dollars in property loss each year.

· Between 2009 and 2014, nearly 200 horses and 4 people died in barn fires, including Olympian Boyd Martin’s barn, who lost 6 horses.

· In 2022, over 500,000 animals died in fires in agricultural buildings. Of that staggering number, at least 140 were horses; the number may be even higher due to poor reporting numbers, which includes cattle, pigs, poultry, goats, etc. That number was down from 2007, in which 304 horses and nearly one million animals perished in fires.

· In 2007, of the 203 barn fires, 4 were arson: the rest were caused by human error and preventable. However, barn fires are rarely investigated, unless there is a human fatality, so this number is most likely not accurate and the number of fires is probably much higher.

· Barn fires kill horses more often than any other disaster type.

· Fires are the number one emergency affecting horse owners.

· Most barn fires are fully engulfed in less than 7 minutes after ignition, with dangerous smoke levels by 5 minutes.

· The most common scenario in a barn fire is that horses are long dead from smoke inhalation by the time firefighters arrive.

· In August 2023, a barn fire in Georgia killed 26 horses and another 10 horses perished in a barn fire in Texas, the result of welding near the barn. Since, there have been several more reports of multiple horse deaths as a result of barn fires, throughout the United States.

· Economic loss is high: in just one report of 14 fires, the loss of horses and property were estimated to be around $5.6 million dollars.

· A barn fire in 2007 killed one person, trapped in an apartment above the barn, as well as claiming the lives of 22 horses. The fire was caused by a faulty electrical issue inside the apartment, which had been revealed years earlier in an inspection.

These statistics are sobering and should be a wake-up call for every barn owner, manager, employee and horse owner to take a good look at their barn and do whatever needs to be implemented before there is a fire.

Because horse barns are considered agriculture buildings, the standards are lax in management and construction. These lax rules can contribute to the ability for fires to ignite and spread. The National Fire Protection Association NFPA 150-Code for Fire and Life Safety in Agriculture Buildings provides the best practices for designers, architects and barn builders to increase human and animal safety and evacuation for barns of any type.

As stated above, a barn can be fully engulfed in fire in 5-7 minutes, with dangerous smoke levels at the 3-5 minute mark. It is therefore unrealistic to think that the fire department, especially in rural areas, will arrive in time to extinguish the fire and save the lives of horses or any other animals in a burning barn. The horses will be dead from smoke inhalation long before they are rescued. And if they do manage to arrive in time, horses are in full panic mode, and the sight of firefighters in full dress, with helmets and air breathing tanks are going to send them further into a heightened stress mode; they will be reluctant to be haltered and led out of a burning barn. And that is if the firemen are able to locate the horses in a dark, smoky barn, find halters and open gates or doors.

Please let these statistics sink in and please, please, share this blog with your horse friends. This is such an important topic, it needs to be read by every horse person.

This blog continues over the next few weeks, with how to prevent fires, fire planning, barn designs and what to do in case of a fire.

Many thanks to Dr. Rebecca Gimenez Husted, who provided so much information for this subject. You can follow her important group, Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue on Facebook.