Spontaneous Combustion in Trees

[Crooked Mick]

I'm hoping this does not come across as woo-woo. I'm well aware of the dangers of spon. com. in coal and some other materials having worked in the coal industry. Couple of years ago I glanced out the window to see a neighbour's "pencil pine" or "Roman pine" tree on fire on one side, the side away from the street as it happened. The flames had only just broken out and there was nobody about. By the time I got out of the front door the neighbour was dragging a garden hose toward the tree. As I recall the weather was cool rather than hot.

 

While mulch can show spon. com, there was no mulch about the area, the tree grew straight out of a well trimmed lawn. I decided that a butt flicked from a passing car might have been the cause but the other day on another site someone mentioned seeing a tree alight for no immediately apparent cause and another person came in with a remark about conifers. The pencil pine is of course a conifer.

 

In these trees the upthrust branches tend to retain fallen leaves in thick lumps but whether these could retain enough heat is doubtful. The Oxford University Press in their Notes and Queries internet pages has a 19th century article on spon. com in trees but it is a pay per view site.

 

Does anyone know anything reliable about this?

[pioneer]

Linseed oil and a rag will often spontaneously combust. There is often a warning on many types of wood stain that contain linseed oil. It has to do with the drying process causes the molecules to align and give off heat. If the heat is not allowed to dissipate, it builds up and causing a fire.

 

Pine trees and pinesap is what is used to make turpentine. Here is a little blip about turps.

 

Turpentine should be stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area in tightly sealed containers that are labeled in accordance with OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard [29 CFR 1910.1200]. Turpentine can undergo autoxidation in contact with air and can generate heat that may spontaneously ignite in a confined space. Containers of turpentine should be protected from physical damage and should be stored separately from strong oxidizers (especially chlorine), heat, sparks, and open flame. Only nonsparking tools may be used to handle turpentine. To prevent static sparks, containers should be grounded and bonded for transfers. Because containers that formerly contained turpentine may still hold product residues, they should be handled appropriately.

 

[iNow]

Thanks for sharing the useful information, Pioneer, but can you cite the source and give credit where it's due?

 

 

EDIT: Never mind --> http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/turpentine/recognition.html

[ghoofer]

My name is Greg, I am a renter that has a tree trunk right next to our pourch. It is over 4 feet tall rotten and bug infessted. Tonight my son walked out and it was smoldering, ready to acctually ignight on fire. I went out and it had over 20 places where the ignition had started. it was small ignitions but, it was spon-tan combustion. Sorry about my spelling. This was an eye opening.

[dksweet]

Was the tree that combusted dead and standing dead or buried with a portion sticking out?

 

We had a fire here today while we were out with no apparent cause.

 

Another tree in that same area was burned down to a 6' stump when we bought the place and we cut it down last year.

 

Am wondering if there's something funky perhaps below ground that's causing trees in the area to combust.

 

Thanks for any help.

[John Cuthber]

Just a thought; what would evolution do to trees that had a habit of spontaneously combusting?

 

A rotting tree stum is another matter. It's not that different from a wet haystack catching fire.

Before you say that a tree spontaneuosly caught fire you would have to rule out the other explanations (like a cigarette butt thrown from a car).