Ben Peetz's Page

Harvest season has been in full swing across much of the Corn Belt for several weeks. And with this surge of activity, typically comes an increase in the number of fires we see in harvesting equipment and grain handling facilities. This year has been no exception. In the past few weeks, many fires relating to harvest operations have been reported in these farming communities.

In Iowa last week, firefighters responded to a fire in a tower grain dryer, and high…

Does your size-up typically look beyond the moment you arrive? With a good working fire, this may be an obvious part of a response. But what about for those responses where we arrive and believe there to be no fire? If nothing is burning, is there really anything to size-up?

While a good size-up should give us a clear picture of what we have and what we need to do to mitigate the situation, we must also consider the events that we may or may not actually see happening, as well as…

A fire in ventilation ductwork last week resulted in the evacuation of an automotive manufacturing plant in Michigan. Crews spent nearly two hours isolating the fire within some very large ducts used in the manufacturing process.

Ventilation ducts are used in many facilities, whether for dust extraction, material handling, or air quality management. In every case, fires within ductwork present several concerns for firefighters. Here are just a few…

• Ductwork circulates…

A fire at an Iowa feed plant Tuesday demonstrates why firefighters must be cautious and consider the effects of every action when dealing with fires in compartmented areas of manufacturing equipment. Reports stated that a fire occurred within a cooling tower, and upon firefighters opening the tower, the fire flared up.

Fires within pelleting operations are common, especially if a malfunction or power failure causes a disruption in the flow of air or product within the system. Fresh…