2002 Annual Report
Research
Preventing Combine Fire Losses Through Improved Design and Safe Operation
Michael Venem, Graduate Student
John Shutske, Associate Professor
Funding Source
Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station; USDA
Objective
- Summarize currently available information related to the magnitude and frequency of grain combine fire losses throughout the U.S.
- Engage the insurance and agricultural equipment industries in cooperative
efforts to develop recommendations for more fire resistant equipment
designs, operator safety recommendations, and fire control equipment
selection.
Project Description
Fires on grain combines and other types of self-propelled farm equipment
are a significant problem, resulting in property damage and downtime.
When a fire occurs in a combine, there is also risk for personal injury
to the machine operator. These fires tend to spread quickly and can be
difficult to extinguish, especially if they are not detected in the early
stages of fire development. This project involves collecting and summarizing
all available data that describe the nature and magnitude of the problem
of fires on grain combines and then communicating this information to
machinery manufacturers, insurers, and others with a stake in reducing
the incidence and magnitude of combine fire losses.
Results
A detailed analysis of 8,927 grain combine fires in 38 states was conducted for the time period of 1984 to 2000 (excluding 1996). In the 38 states represented in the study, fire losses from the 1984-1997 time period totaled more than $94 million, excluding the costs associated with downtime, personal injury, or other non-property loss costs. A total of 76.7% of these fires were known to have originated in the engine area. Nearly half of the fires (48.5%) occurred between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., and 67.9% occurred during the months from September through November. An attempt was made to more substantially engage and encourage a dialogue between various stakeholders with concerns related to fire prevention and protection on combines including machinery manufacturers, the insurance industry, academic researchers, and fire protection companies. The planned combine fire “summit” was cancelled because of lack of participation by a broad enough spectrum of participants, and instead, pertinent information was presented at the annual ASAE meeting in Chicago. From this research, we have determined that this is an area in need of additional study. Areas to be examined in the future could include investigations of: maintenance habits performed by the combine operator, means of minimizing or eliminating the accumulation of crop residue near ignition sources, fire rates per hour of harvesting and how those rates change during the season or even within individual days, the reasons why the number of fires appears to cycle from year to year, and design strategies to reduce the probability of mechanical and electrical failures.