fire in the coop!!!

[mario2girls]

well, thank god i had the day off and i sent my husband out to the shed for something,,our coop is connected to the shed and one of the heat lamps fell onto the floor , it was full of smoke and the floor has a lamp sized whole threw it, he filled it with water and we are watching it,,opened up all windows and doors, the chickens have access threw there pens to the outside, so all those are open,,,my old man rooo who is the mascott he is loose in the coop had quite a scare, was he glad to see me,,,
so my message is ,,,,,please please secure these lamps,,,,very scary,,,,

 

[bantymum]

Wow, im so glad that no one was hurt there.
I always have electrical things attached to a power board with emergency cut off which will trip it if anything happens like that, however heat lamps or any lamps are dangerous especially when they fall over.
Im so glad you found it in time.

 

[mario2girls]

that is a good idea, it would have shut off the power when the lamp fell? i need to look into that,,,thanks

 

[hinkjc]

I am sorry for the scare you went through. Excellent message and reminder tho...folks, please secure your heat lamps with wire or chain. Do not rely solely on the clamps, which can come loose very easily from whatever they are attached to.

Thanks goodness everyone was ok.

Jody

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Oh my goodness, Wendy!! How scary!! I'm glad no one was hurt and you just have to fix a hole in the floor and not an entire coop!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Indeedy. Heat lamps start a LOT of barn fires. Everyone *thinks* their setup will be ok, until, quite suddenly, it isn't.

To expand on what Jody said above:

-- only use heat lamps if you absolutely must. Consider whether a regular bulb, or even nothing at all, would be adequate. Really truly.

-- if you must use a heat lamp, hang it by chain or very firmly twisted heavy-gauge wire, and have TWO of these chains or wires, each attached to a DIFFERENT, independant piece of coop structure, in case one fails.

-- the safest arrangement, although this may not always be possible in coops (as opposed to the way heat lamps are often used in barns) is to have the outlet in the ceiling, facing downward, with the heat lamp hanging direclty under it. This way, if the lamp should fall, it unplugs itself in the process. (You coil the cord up and tie it to itself so it's short enough).

It gives me the willies to see how many people use heat lamps when it's not really clear that something safer wouldn't work just as well.

Good luck to all,

Pat

 

[mario2girls]

the only reason i use a heat lamp is i have seramas and chicks in there, other wise i would not.. i use reg bulbs in my brooders , they are in thje house,,,going to spend some time rethinking for their safety

 

[countryboy]

glad y'all caught it in time .

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Glad you found it in time and the chickens were okay!

 

[ridgefire]

not sure of the type of light you have. The idea I have is to make sure the plug is in the ceiling and the cord is short enough so that the light can't reach the floor and still be plugged in. Just thinking that if the light were to fall the light would either hang from its plug and not land on the floor or unplug its self so that it wouldnt start a fire. Just a thought.