Hay Barn
In 1996 we sold a barn full of hay and straw, all tied up in big round bales. One of the guys who bought the stuff left his loader tractor at one end of the barn overnight, right next to the stuff . That night for some reason or another the tractor caught fire (whether it was bloody kids, electrical fault or 'ahem' some other reason I will never know ) Anyway, real mystery was that although the tractor itself was a total write-off, a blackened wreck, with all it's tyres burnt out and wiring loom totally fried, the barn itself did not go up with it. The fodder was totally untouched. Believe me, nothing is more inflammable than dry hay or straw, in fact haystacks can go up in smoke due to the hay been baled too soon and getting hot from within. It was just like those pictures you see of cases of "Spontaneous combustion" where the body has all but gone apart from half a leg and a shoe but the rest of the room has been left intact. Really weird.
(Mackeson_drinker, Sat 15 Oct 2011, 7:41, 6 replies)

if you teally want to earn your detective stripes
You could find out why inflammable means the same as flammable.
(OTT, Sat 15 Oct 2011, 7:45, closed)

It was the Americans

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Sat 15 Oct 2011, 9:39, closed)

Hm...
maybe an electrical fire that wasn't terribly hot?

Or the heat was carried upwards rather than outwards?
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Sat 15 Oct 2011, 8:33, closed)

According to Grand Designs hay bales aren't necessarily flammable.
Apparently if they're tight enough there's not enough air to allow them to burn and they're bad at conducting heat, or something.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Sat 15 Oct 2011, 8:45, closed)

what puzzles me
Where the tractor was stood there was of course a bit of litter on the floor, i.e. loose hay, this had obviously burnt a bit but it had not carried on and ignited the actual bales. The tractor was snug against the stack and considering the heat generated by the burning tyres etc (e.g. the cab windows had totally shattered and the seat was toast )It still remains a miracle that the whole lot did not go up. There was not even any scorch marks on the bales next to where the tractor was parked.
(Mackeson_drinker, Sat 15 Oct 2011, 9:56, closed)

It does sound weird, and I know what I said doesn't fuly explain it.
But I thought I ought to pass on the counter intuitive thing which may be the only thing I have learned through watching Grand Designs.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Sat 15 Oct 2011, 13:25, closed)