Horror Haiku Club Prompt

September 21 - Spontaneous Combustion

As a child my brothers and I used to spend our summers on my grandparents’ alfalfa farm. One night we were outside playing and noticed a fire in the distance… a big fire. It turned out that one of the neighboring farms’ stacks of hay bales had caught on fire. Spontaneous combustion of hay is surprisingly common on farms and can cause severe damage, burning fields, homes, and barns.

---

Your prompt is SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Hungry fire bright

Against a dark horizon

A year up in flames

---

Moisture, continued plant respiration, fungus, and bacteria can heat up the tightly packed hay from the inside, creating a flammable gas that ignites at temperatures above 130ºF. Once the burning bales start to fall apart, the fire is exposed to oxygen, which only increases the severity of the fire.