Learn how to prevent fires from starting by understanding common electrical terms while taking extra precautions to avoid tragedy on your homestead.
“If you’re cold, they’re cold” is a common adage. Unfortunately, it’s led to many preventable fires. Winter brings a chill, and with it, heat lamps, heaters, and plenty of other hazards for the barn.
No one wants to walk into their barn and find frozen livestock, so here are some tips on keeping your critters comfortable and as safe as possible – though there’s no such thing as zero risk when it comes to heating a space.
Common Electrical Terms
Often, barn fires are caused by electricity. And, understandably, an electrical fire is one of the scarier things that can happen, given the many unknowns electricity represents for many of us. So, first things first: Let’s unpack some basic terms. Amps are the measurement of the flow of electricity through a circuit. Volts are the measurement of two points in a circuit. Watts are the rate the electricity is produced as one amp flows through a volt.
A standard residential outlet is 120 volts (V); the heavy-duty outlets, say for a washing machine, are 240V. You can’t plug a welder into a 120V outlet and expect it to work. Heaters are considered more on the heavy-duty side as well; it takes more electricity to power a heater than to power an air conditioner. (Truly! A 10,000-Btu window unit takes about 1,500 watts to run, while a standard space heater takes about 1,800 watts.)
The wattage rating of the appliance should match the amp rating of the outlet. A standard 120V outlet will generally be 15 amps. Watts and amps aren’t equivalent; to calculate an amp, divide the watts by volts. An 1,800-watt space heater divided by 120 volts equals 15 amps. Don’t plug more than one appliance into an outlet if you’ve already hit that amp limit, as the wattage required will also increase, thereby upping your risk of starting a fire.
“But Karmin,” you say, “I’ll just have 240V outlets in my barn instead!” Not a good plan. That’s a great way to destroy (or explode) the appliance and start a fire nearly immediately. The safest thing to do is to simply not overload an outlet and to make sure it’s wired correctly from the start.
How to Prevent Fires from Starting
Now that the math and science-y bits are out of the way, let’s talk prevention. Barns are full of things that seem to want to be on fire – fuels, paints, cleaners, hay, straw, various fabrics (saddle blankets), feed bags, and more.
Safely storing flammable items away from heat sources is Step 1 in prevention. Next, create a separate, stand-alone storage area for hay (one of the most common items on any farm or homestead), as hay can self-ignite without any outside heat source. Additionally, create a separate, stand-alone workshop or shed to store your tools and all of their flammable bits and liquids (i.e., don’t throw gas on the fire).
Other steps to prevent a barn fire include avoiding heat lamps, extension cords, and surge protectors in your barn, as well as keeping a proper fire extinguisher on hand.
There’s truly no safe way to use heat lamps – bulbs explode, the lamp itself can short out, they easily fall if not safely secured, and they can overheat combustible materials and ignite a fire. Just because they’re sold in basically any farm supply or general store doesn’t mean they’re safe; it simply means they’re cheap and easy to produce.
Extension cords are intended for temporary usage only. Extension cords can overheat, especially if coiled, causing an electrical fire. Only use the length needed to accomplish the intended job, as the more excess cord you have, the more likely it’ll be a danger. Extension cords must be rated for outdoor use if you’re intending to use them in a barn – dirt and all sorts of “farmy” things can get on the plug bits and cause a bad connection or cause damage to the cord itself (think nicks, scrapes, and anything that’ll expose the wiring).
Surge protectors tend to give us a false sense of security. We think they’ll shut off if they have too much running through them, or that we can simply plug in more items. The surge protector isn’t going to prevent anything if all the things plugged into it equal more than the outlet can handle.
Not all fire extinguishers are the same. Extinguishers are rated by class: A, B, C, D, and K. ABC (A: combustible; B: flammable liquid; C: electrical) are the “standard” fires you’d encounter in the home or on the farm, and you’ll want an extinguisher that’ll safely tackle all three, just in case.
An important note: Never try to extinguish an electrical or liquid fire with water; this will only make it much worse, compounding the fire’s spread with potential injury, such as conducting that electricity right to someone’s feet.
Planning and Detection
You’ve prevented fire as much as possible – you’ve stored all of your flammables away in their own cabinet; you’ve stored hay elsewhere; your outlets have the proper voltage; you’ve secured any heaters and aren’t overloading surge protectors; you even have two ABC fire extinguishers! What now?
Unfortunately, there’s still a risk of fire. Fire happens; lightning could strike the barn, a failed circuit could set a stall on fire, or exceptionally dry conditions could cause the compost pile to combust or ignite nearby dry wood. The best thing you can do now is to be prepared.
Smoke detectors are great, if you can hear them. (I couldn’t hear the one by my coops in my sleep if something happened.) I recommend a baby monitor to solve that particular problem – there are outdoor and video (both Wi-Fi and non-Wi-Fi) versions available, and they’re less likely to break the budget, depending on how fancy you’d like the monitor to be – some even come equipped with carbon monoxide detectors.
Having an actual plan in case the worst does happen is essential. Don’t wait till the barn is on fire to make a plan. Have an actionable plan and practice it to keep you, your folks, your livestock, and your property as safe as you can. Call 911 at the first sign of smoke or fire, and learn how to use your extinguishers. Account for your family first, and know your evacuation plan and where everyone is supposed to meet. Once your family is safe, decide if you can evacuate your livestock (we don’t condone running into a burning building to be a hero). Consider and plan out all of these steps well before an emergency happens, and review your plans regularly.
Originally published as “Fires on the Homestead” in the November/December 2024 issue of GRIT magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.
Karmin Garrison is a word nerd, herbalist, “accidental gardener,” and DIYer, living on a 1-acre almost-homestead in East Texas. When not magicking up words or chasing after kids or grandkids, she can be found wandering the woods, fishing, beading or sewing, sharing wild stories, gallivanting across the South, or with her nose in a book. Sometimes she sleeps, but that’s usually on accident.