7 Fire Safety Tips For Your Barn

1. Store Hay Outside of Your Barn

Hay is highly flammable, and sometimes hay which has been improperly harvested can mold and combust. Rather than keeping hay in your hayloft, try to keep hay in a separate structure away from your barn. Bring just a few bales of hay into the barn each day to minimize the chance of a fire occurring.

2. Check Fire Extinguishers

Your barn should be equipped with multiple fire extinguishers. But did you know that fire extinguishers can expire? Check your fire extinguishers to make sure that they are properly charged and haven’t expired, and train barn workers on how to operate fire extinguishers.

3. Install and Monitor Smoke Detectors

Install multiple smoke detectors throughout your barn. For added safety, hard wire these smoke detectors into your barn’s alarm system, and arrange so that the smoke detectors trigger an alarm directly at your local fire department.

4. Keep Halters Easily Accessible

In the event of a fire, you need to be able to get horses out of your barn quickly. Keep halters easily accessible. Some horse owners keep designated “fire halters” in an easy to locate space. The halters are equipped with lead lines attached to them so that the process of catching and leading a horse is fast.

5. Communicate With Your Fire Department

Have a conversation with your fire apartment about how you can improve your barn’s fire safety. Your local fire department may have suggestions which are specific to your barn’s situation. You might also want to invite firefighters to your barn to meet the horses and learn about basic horse handling so that they are better prepared in the event that a fire does occur.

6. Keep Your Electrical System Up to Date

Some barn fires are electrical in origin. Have an electrician inspect your barn and upgrade any out of date or dangerous issues in your electrical system. Spend some time making sure that all of your outlets are working and have outlet covers to protect them from debris like hay or shavings.

7. Store Flammable Substances Separately

Caring for your property requires flammable substances, like motor oil, gasoline, and paint. However, make sure that you don’t store these substances in your barn. Instead, build a separate shed to store flammable substances and machinery, like lawnmowers.