2016 Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. - Do not disclose or distribute. Farm Equipment / Combine Fire Investigations August 25, 2017

Transcription

1 Farm Equipment / Combine Fire Investigations August 25, 2017

2 Goals of this program Why Investigate Farm Equipment Fires. Implement Identification. Reasons Farm Implements Burn Common ignition sources for farm equipment fires. Questions that need to be asked of the owner/operator. Helpful Websites for Implement Related Research 2

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4 Why Investigate Farm Equipment Fires? Economics Cost of big ticket items that we use everyday Median Home Price of a single family dwelling in the Untied States in January 2017: $189,000 Contents Coverage for that home Average: $142,000 Total Fire Loss of Median Priced Home: $331,000 Average cost of brand new Pickup truck: $43, Average Cost of brand new passenger car: $32,

5 Why Investigate Farm Equipment Fires New T series Harvester $402,759 $140,000 for 12-row Corn Head 9RX Series Tractor $510,000 CP690 Cotton Picker $900,118 5

6 Why Investigate Farm Equipment Fires CHN Row Crop Tractor $300,000 Case AF-9240 Harvester $503,000 Case Grain Platform $80,000 Case Module Express $1,100,000 6

7 Implement Identification Over the Road Vehicles Marine Craft Heavy Equipment / Farm Implements Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Hull Identification Number (HIN) Product Identification Number (PIN) Heavy Equipment also have several other identification numbers: Engine Serial Number Component Identification Number ESN CIN 7

8 Product Identification Numbers 8

9 How Does A Combine Do what its Supposed to Do Harvest a Varity of Crops in a single Process? 9

10 How does a combine work 10

11 Implement Controls Newer Implements are fully computerized: Advanced Farming Systems Controls every aspect of the unit via a touchpad controller in the Operator s compartment This Technology first became available around 2011 Farmers began to really use this technology around 2015 Ability to transfer the machines diagnostics and all of its operational data to a remote computer in real time This a Subscription Service Auto-Guidance/GPS controlled Can adjust platforms, separator sizes, speeds, and type of crop from computer. Real time crop yield and moisture monitoring 11

12 Combines are not designed to catch fire but are designed to burn 12

13 Why They Burn Tremendous Fuel Load. Crop Chaff / Debris Crop debris Build up throughout machine Combines are manufactured with Combustible Materials Majority of the outside skin is plastic Most Fuel Tanks are plastic Hundreds of gallons of Ignitable liquids are on board Fuel, tank has around 300 gallon capacity Hydraulic Fluid Engine oil Transmission / Gear case oil Coolant 13

14 Why They Catch Fire What is the competent ignition source? Hot Surface Ignition Bearing Failures Engine Surfaces Misaligned drive components Exhaust System Ignitable liquid line failures Crop debris comes into contact with a hot component Electrical Failures Non Electrical Sparks Picking up and ingesting Foreign Material into the separator Frictional Heating Catastrophic Mechanical Failure Human Action (Incendiary) 14

15 Maintenance of the Machine Farm equipment is operated in a very dry and hostile environment. Crop debris accumulates on the parts of the implements during normal operation and MUST be cleaned regularly. Combines are specialized equipment that is only used a few weeks out of the entire year. They are parked the rest of the time 15

16 Examples of Poor Housekeeping Practices 16

17 Rodent Nest Fires Usually occur after unit stored for extended time. Operator just gets in and goes, with no inspection of the engine compartment. 17

18 Rodent Nest Fires 18

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21 Evidence of excessive crop chaff accumulation 21

22 Evidence of excessive crop chaff accumulation 22

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25 Evidence of Charred debris, build up of Crop Chaff 25

26 Burning debris causing spot fires 26

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29 Crop Debris Accumulation as a result of an Oil Leak 29

30 ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE 30

31 ENGINE / FUEL TANK LOCATION 31

32 Burning debris falling on top of the fuel tank 32

33 Burning debris falling on top of the fuel tank 33

34 Engine compartment / fuel tank fire 34

35 Separator Compartment Fires 35

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37 Improper Maintenance Over Lubrication of the Bearings Old style bearings were open and designed to have grease pumped into them until it came out of the bearing housing Most of todays Bearings are sealed and designed to go for hundreds of hours between lubrication or replacement Sealed Bearings are designed to keep crop debris out of the bearing races and keepers If over lubricated, the seal of the bearing jacket is broken and allows crop debris to impregnate the bearing, leading to bearing failure. If bearings or races can be recovered, examine the metal for crop debris contamination 37

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49 Lightning Strike 49

50 Foreign Material Ingestion into Separator Often occur when operator has to run the platform against the ground or with the auto-leveler. Rock Catchers need to cleaned daily. If rock catcher is full, it allows rocks or other foreign material to enter the separator. This is typically a very loud event Did the operator hear anything before the fire? May sound like a shot gun going off in the operator s compartment. 50

51 Rock Catcher from Combine Full of Debris 51

52 Rock Ingestion Damage to Combine 52

53 Debris (Rock) located in the field 53

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58 The Scene Examination Obtain the GPS Coordinates of loss site. Walk the field behind the implement to look for parts that may have fallen off or burnt areas away from the unit that could give you a side to start with. Use Metal Detector to look for metal bearings / components that may have broken off the unit before fire discovered. 58

59 Questions that need to be asked Any alarms or warnings sounding prior to the fire? Any unusual Sounds/vibration? What was the weather at the time of the fire? Winds, Humidify, Temperatures, Dew point What was crop moisture at the time of the fire? Where was the first place the fire was discovered? When was the last time the machine was cleaned? How? By Who? How long had the unit been operated the day of the fire? How many operation hours on the machine this season? How Many hours on the engine / Separator? 59

60 Questions that need to be asked. Any maintenance or major repairs done on the machine this season? Where is the implement stored in the off season? What was the field condition at the time of the fire? How high was the platform off the ground? How fast was the unit being operated? DID ANYONE TAKE PICTURES/VIDEOS OF THE FIRE AFTER IT WAS DISCOVERED? 60

61 Implement Websites (Great for getting Specs on the unit.) Type MFG, Make, and Model in Search Engine 61

62 Michael Ling, IAAI-CFI, (V), CFEI Fire Investigator Team Lead Cellphone: Thank you Questions