Hot Hay in Spring Garden

At 7:31PM on Tuesday, June 9, Station 4-9 was dispatched to a farm in the 5200 block of Old Philadelphia Pike in the Spring Garden Section of Salisbury Township for a public service. The farmer had hot hay in his barn and was concerned about it and the possibility of a fire, and requested assistance in removing the hay to the outside in case of a fire.\
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The problem is that when hay is cut in the field, it is cut and let to lay in the field to dry before it is baled and put in the hay barn. Sometimes the hay is not totally dried when it is baled and stored, and the moisture that is left in the hay causes a chemical reaction, much like what happens in a pile of compost. The warm damp hay causes bacteria to grow, and when the bacteria decomposes the hay, it causes heat, and eventually the hay, if left unchecked, may very possibly burst into flames, causing a barn fire.\
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The farmer brought wagons in, and firemen and neighbors alike loaded the wagons full of the hay, so it could be moved outside to finish drying and cool down; that way, if the hay was to combust it would be outside and cause no harm to the structure. \
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Units cleared the scene at 8:46 PM\
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