Horse Barn Fire Prevention
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Christi_Garfinkel]Christi Garfinkel
Fire prevention is a good issue for consideration by committee of your local equine organization. Concerned horse owners and owners with experience in emergency planning may be willing to become part of a committee. Develop a barn escape plan to get horses out safely with minimal injury.
Steps to Prevent Injuries and Recovery of Horses
• Review the design of a proposed barn, point out structural problems and propose solutions.
• Review your existing barn and provide recommendations for making it safer.
• Help organize and perhaps participate in regularly scheduled fire drills.
• Display the escape route in the barn and give a copy to the owners of all boarders.
• Have your horse microchipped for easy identification.
• Have a fire drill every 6-12 months
• Help train fire fighters in horse handling.
• Organize the equipment necessary to fight fires.
Reducing Fire Hazards in Your Barn
• Enforce a "NO SMOKING" policy in or around the barn
• Store feed, paint, solvents, gasoline and gasoline-powered equipment away from the barn
• Maintain flashlights, spare batteries and a battery-powered AM radio in case of power loss.
• Keep well-stocked human and equine first-aid kits in your barn
• Make sure all electrical cords are in good repair and not frayed. Exposed wires can be an extreme fire hazard.
• Turn off radios when no one is present in the barn.
• Maintain several fire extinguishers, fire hoses and a working sprinkler system in the barn. Test the equipment regularly and be sure barn personnel know how to operate the fire extinguishers.
• Have a halter and lead rope readily available for each horse in every stall, paddock or pasture.
• Have a backup generator if your water is pumped by an electric pump.
• Alert your neighbors to the presence of horses. Tell them who to call if you can't get to your animals in the event of a fire.
• Maintain a list of emergency telephone numbers and written directions to your barn at your telephone so that everybody can call for help and provide information to emergency personnel.
Please call us at 619.659.1180 if you want additional information on protecting your horses from fires or to have your horse micro-chipped. We would be glad to help you with your emergency fire prevention plan.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Horse-Barn-Fire-Prevention&id=5586471] Horse Barn Fire Prevention
5 comments:
Fantastic Post! It shuld be required reading for all horse owners! I and several Horse Club Presidents are getting together in a few weeks to review our Safety and Disaster plans for our members. I'll be sure to bring this up!
Thanks Ever so!
Great post. You don't see much mentioned regarding this and it is very good. Thanks so much for the good heads up and info.
Possible fire risks in riding arenas, stall barns and other pole barns and post frame buildings can be greatly reduced with common sense planning up front.
Spontaneous combustion in hay and alfalfa is a huge contributor to pole building fires. Feed and bedding should be stored away from any buildings housing horses.
Pole barns can be reasonably economically sprinklered (provided the original post frame building design allowed for the added weight of the system), to extinguish fires quickly.
~ The Pole Barn Guru
www.HansenPoleBuildings.com
One way to greatly reduce your chances of a bad barn fire is to go with a modular type barn from
MDBarnmaster they are
virtually fire proof, kick proof and very low repair work needed.
When I moved from California to Washington I bought a Barnmaster building because they were advertised as being kickproof and chewproof. Neither turned out to be the case. Also have had nothing but issues with roof condensation. While I haven't tried to burn it down, it might be a consideration, given the other issues.
D.S.
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