Start your new year off on the right foot by enhancing the safety of the buildings on your PA horse farm. Horse barns in PA are often built of wood, and usually filled with hay, straw, and wood shavings. As a result, the average barn can be a real fire hazard. There are some simple steps you can take to make your barn safer for both horses and humans, starting with some easy clean-up!
Eastern PA Horse Property Specialists – Call Us Today! ( 610) 849-1790
To start, clear your barn of unnecessary clutter. Scrap wood, old feed bags, fuel cans, paint, and any other flammable items should be removed and stored elsewhere – preferably at least 50 feet from horse stables and homes where people and animals live. When cleaning your barn on a daily basis, be sure to sweep up cobwebs as well. Cobwebs hold dust, shavings, hay, and dirt – all highly flammable materials! A cobweb-free barn helps prevent the rapid spread of fire.
Store Flammable Items Away From The Barn
If possible, store hay, straw, and bedding in a structure separate from where horses are stalled. Check hay and straw bales frequently for mold and moisture – wet bales heat up quickly and can spontaneously combust, starting deadly barn fires.
After you’ve tidied up the barn and removed flammable materials, give the electrical system a thorough check. Lightbulbs in horse stalls or aisleways should be enclosed in metal cages – this prevents horses from breaking bulbs in the event that they rear up and hit the light. Be sure all wiring in your barn is enclosed in a PVC conduit, and don’t overload circuits. Avoid the use of extension cords, and if you must use them, be sure they are heavy-duty outdoor models.
Clean Up Outdoor Areas
Once everything inside your Pennsylvania horse barn is fire-proof, turn your attention to the area outside your barn. If you compost your manure, do it away from the barn. Like damp hay bales, composting manure can heat up pretty quickly. Overgrown brush near buildings can also act as fuel for a fire, so keep the areas around your barn and outbuildings neat and manicured, and consider decorative stone as an alternative to plantings.
And finally, don’t forget to place fire extinguishers in your PA horse barn! In case a fire does start in your stable, fire extinguishers can stop a fire before it becomes an uncontrollable, destructive force.
Eastern PA Horse Property Specialists – Call Us Today! ( 610) 849-1790
Our extensive knowledge of the eastern PA horse properties for sale market allows us to guide our clients intelligently. Whether you are looking to buy, sell or invest, we have one mission – to provide you with exceptional customer service throughout the entire transaction. We assist buyers and sellers within the following eastern Pennsylvania counties:
- Berks County PA equestrian properties
- Bucks County PA equestrian properties
- Carbon County PA equestrian properties
- Chester County PA equestrian properties
- Lehigh County PA equestrian properties
- Northampton PA equestrian properties
- Poconos PA equestrian properties
- Schulykill PA equestrian properties
For sellers, we also offer property evaluations and have acquired the knowledge over the years of how to effectively perform an accurate market analysis of PA horse farms for sale, general farms and PA back yard horse properties. Please give us a call today or fill out our online contact form and let us know how we can best assist you with your eastern PA horse property real estate needs!
Cindy Stys, Broker/owner
The Premier Equine Realty Firm Serving Eastern PA
Tel.: 610-849-1790
720 Smith Hill Rd
Stroudsburg, PA 18360
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