The Official U.S. Maple Syrup Almanac 2015 | Page 12

carpenters, electricians and laborers. And
some are just people with trash cans and
brooms. It was absolutely humbling.”
Boyden, who also sells equipment for
OESCO, Inc., said that since he can mill
his own lumber, he’s saving some money
on building a new woodshed. He’ll just
need nails and roofing materials. This
time, it won’t be attached to the sugarhouse.
“We’ll bring the wood in one pallet at a
time,” he said.
He also plans to install a spark arrestor
in the smokestack to prevent smoldering
ashes from escaping, and a dry sprinkler
system, so he can manually start it in case
of a fire.
“You can’t have a wet pipe system in a
building that freezes every night all winter,” he said.
The day of his fire, snow close to the
building helped prevent the fire’s spread.
But without snow, many operators risk a
wildfire because of dead grass surrounding
their sugarhouses.
“Keep the grass mowed and dry brush
cleared around the building all summer,”
Boyden said. “When the snow melts, you
won’t have a lot of long, dry grass for a
spark to fall on.”
He hopes to complete his new woodshed by October. For now, he borrows
another outbuilding on the farm.
“Be hyper-vigilant,” Boyden said.
“Know that yes, it can happen to you.”
If you’re planning on building a new
sugar house, take a few tips from
Steve Childs, Cornell Sugar Maple Program director. He said that proper roof
structure around stacks can help reduce
risk of fire.
“A lot of them are fairly large and they’d
have to do significant structural fixing to
make them safe,” Childs said. “Rather
than having them between trusses, they
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A crew of volunteers helped clean up the aftermath of the fire.

need adequate space around the pipe or a
double wall so the hot pipe is surrounded
by a cold pipe.
“Most of the sugar house fires I’ve
known about is where the stack went
through the roof and the heating equipment was too close to wooden walls,
whether the evaporator or a finishing
pan.”
Building with firewalls between storage
areas and the evaporator room can prevent
fires from destroying more property.
As in Boyden’s case, where you build
makes a huge difference. Although building out in the woods seems folksy and
enhances the tourists’ experience, these
sugarhouses “have no access to fire equipment and many don’t have electricity
except through a generator so they have
no way of pumping water onto a fire. Put
a sugar house in an accessible location.”
Store flammable items away from heat
sources. Keep chainsaws, gas fire tappers, and other combustibles in a separate

building.
As in any setting, plan for the worst.
Develop an emergency action plan for
shutting down at critical times and train
all employees and helpers on what to do
in case of a fire.
George Cook, maple & farm safety specialist at University of Vermont Morrisville Extension, said that keeping firefighting equipment on hand is vital.
“You need fire extinguishers, a water
supply and safe means of egress in the
event of a problem,” Cook said. “Use
smoke alarms in areas in your sugarhouse
that are not right on top of the wood
burner. It could make a big difference.”
Keep tabs on your equipment and
buildings, especially if your sugarhouse
isn’t open year-round. Before the season,
“do a thorough housecleaning,” Cook
added.
Make sure all electrical connections are
sound and all equipment is working properly befor H