Property caught fire

[johnpjackson]

Yikes. It happens.

WEAU: Fire started by making maple syrup in Lafayette.
https://www.weau.com/2022/03/22/fire-started-by-making-maple-syrup-lafayette/

[ecolbeck]

Interesting, except that "distilling" maple syrup isn't a thing and syrup isn't flammable.

[Super Sapper]

If you are not a sugar maker until you burn a pan, would this make them a master sugar maker? Unfortunate but goes to show what can happen if you walk away.

[DrTimPerkins]

.... syrup isn't flammable.

But sugar sure is...once all the water is gone it is basically pure carbon, which burns quite nicely. Makes a lot of flames and really black smoke.

Lesson is -- never walk away from an evaporator when it is running.

[berkshires]

But sugar sure is...once all the water is gone it is basically pure carbon, which burns quite nicely. Makes a lot of flames and really black smoke.

Lesson is -- never walk away from an evaporator when it is running.

My 2x3 flat pan running at 3/4" to 1" holds about 3.5 gallons, and cooks off about 8 GPH. That means if I walked away and something happened to stop the flow of sap from the preheater, in 20 minutes the water would be *gone* from the whole pan. And of course the last channel that the syrup is made in would dry up way before that, and the syrup that would have been formed in the channel before that would be too busy foaming up and out to do much to put out the flames in the "syrup" channel.

Think about how hot the base stack is. I'm sure the pan is way hotter than that, with the direct flames on it. Heat sugar to well over a thousand degrees, and I bet you'd have one big flaming marshmallow where your evaporator used to be.

My heart goes out to the sugarmaker who this happened to. That's going to be tough to recover from.

GO

[DrTimPerkins]

Heat sugar to well over a thousand degrees, and I bet you'd have one big flaming marshmallow where your evaporator used to be.

The marshmallow reference brings to mind the original Ghostbusters. https://tenor.com/view/stay-puft-marshmallow-man-stay-puft-stay-puff-ghostbusters-ghostbusters-finally-gif-23036060

The flashpoint (temperature at which a material will ignite) for sucrose is only 375 deg F. That's nothing compared to the heat of the fire in your arch. Doesn't take much to go from syrup, to solid, to char.


My heart goes out to the sugarmaker who this happened to. That's going to be tough to recover from.

For sure. Best thing we can do is use it as a lesson. Don't leave an evaporator unattended.

[Father & Son]

Sorry for the misfortune. Don’t be discouraged. It happens to more sugar makers than you will ever realize. Start prepping and you’ll be ready for next year. My close calls have made me adopt the last sentence in my signature.

[DrTimPerkins]

And another... https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/top-stories/fire-destroys-maple-syrup-barn-in-tioga-county-pa/

Same lesson -- don't walk away from an operating evaporator.

[jmayerl]

https://fb.watch/coahnlp6RU/
Had one here in NE Wisconsin two days ago go up in flames also

[TapTapTap]

How many operations are insured? I needed to when I entered into a sugarbush leash a few years ago and it's nice to have the protection (general liability, product liability, theft, fire, even equipment failure, and my tractor). It's obviously not cheap considering my syrup revenue. This year's premium was $1100.
Ken

[jmayerl]

How many operations are insured? I needed to when I entered into a sugarbush leash a few years ago and it's nice to have the protection (general liability, product liability, theft, fire, even equipment failure, and my tractor). It's obviously not cheap considering my syrup revenue. This year's premium was $1100.

Ken

I pay about $1400 a year for coverage on the 24x 60 sugar house, tractor, Argo, 50k in contents, 2.5 mil in product liability.

[TapTapTap]

I pay about $1400 a year for coverage on the 24x 60 sugar house, tractor, Argo, 50k in contents, 2.5 mil in product liability.

That sounds comparable since you have a larger sugarhouse than mine. These premiums aren't really all that bad - would you insure a fellow sugarer for that amount? Of course the premium would certainly rise if you had a claim. In the end, the insurance companies make a profit.