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SW “Ohia” | Peat has a bunch of different stages of formation, most of which will burn. During the Irish potato famine, it was pretty common for families to burn soil that was in a very early stage of becoming peat. They would cut it into "peat logs" about 6"x6"x18" or so.
Actually encountered this myself this spring. We have a compost pile in the back treeline where we have dumped lawn clippings for years. We burned the brush out of that line to control saplings this year, and the old pile caught fire too. It burned down for a day or so, and then smoldered for a solid two weeks. It smelled just like poor quality peat coal. You could tell the soil was different in that area when you got up on it, much looser and seemed like VERY fine mulch. I dug down out of curiosity, and it was like that to around 2 feet of depth.
Buddy of mine from Florida says they get "swamp fires" down there every now and then. A lightning strike will light the peat soil up in a swamp/bog, and it just smolders for a few weeks/months until burning out on its own.
Lot of the ground around here is swampy, so I have always wanted to cut some peat logs and see if they will burn once dry. There are portions of a few of my fields that have been muck as long as anyone can remember. Doesn't matter how dry it gets, you will still sink to your knees. | |
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dirt on fire
