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Broadmoor Fire


Brent_Baumer

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Hi all. A woman I work with had the misfortune of having a barn fire over the weekend. Her husband was mowing Friday afternoon. They were going out for supper so he quit mowing at 4:30 and put the mower away in the barn. They left around 4:45. A friend was fishing in their pond and noticed the barn was on fire at about 5:00. Fortunately no one was hurt but they did lose the barn, 2 mowers, a 4 wheeler, 25 round bales and some hay equipment. They suspect, as do the firemen that responded, the mower in use just prior to the fire, a "Simplicity Broadmoor with a 44" deck" was the cause. An investigator for the insurance company is supposed to come tomorrow to inspect what's left and see if he can determine the cause from what I understand. Anyone hear of or know of problems with these machines that might help them determine whether or not the mower was the cause? I do not know the age of the machine, but maybe one could judge a range by the 44" deck width. Thanks, Brent
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BTW, while searching the web for info related to this I came across this recall that may affect some of you: http://news.findlaw.com/prnewswire/20040720/20jul2004100633.html
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It could have been a very simple thing like the engine 'chucking out a live piece of carbon' and it not being noticed. My guess was the operator was at cause by not letting cool down a bit before putting it away for the day, like we all should but don't. But being that Simplicity has deep pockets, my guess is that a settlement will be sought. Nobody today is to blame, but the manufacturer is as he didn't tell everbody everything as opposed to the owner reading the operators book. My guess, common sense wasn't used.
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Rob-b is our resedent fireman, he whent to a fire in a gararge a wile back. The cause, grass in a mower deck! He posted it in talking tractors. I have one of thouse tent gararges. If you have ever been in one in the sun with the door down, you'll know why leave the door rolled up! I only close it when it rains. The heat with old grass is a recipe for disaster. Elon
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Hello All, Here is the article I wrote a while back that Elon was speaking of. http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=32975 It was a pretty big loss for the home owner. I here that his insurance company is giving him a hard time..............stating neglect on power equipment, but I havn't spoke to him personnally yet. Rob
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I never put a hot machine in the barn or shed right away. In fact, last night, I was out mowing with the HB-112, and with a 48" deck on, that low tone muffler gets cherry red after only a short time. I don't particularly care for the muffler, but it's what's on it. That reinforced my theory. It is a terrible loss, and I wish them well in the future. Rob (K)
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My uncle, also in my Fire Dept, parked his Simplicity a few weeks ago in his shed. A few minuets later he looked out and it was blazing. I don't remember the model of the tractor but it's a later version with a 16 Briggs vertical shaft engine. He told me when he shut it off it backfired into the carb. With a little oil on the filter and some small grass clippings on top of the engine, it took a few, maybe 10 minuets for it to smolder through the filter and get a good breath of oxygen to start free burning. Unfortunate, but nothing was abused or used any differently than normal homeowner usage. Because he caught it in time, only the top of the engine was burnt. Carb, coil, and such. No legal action is planned.lol But another case where all the planets lined up just right to allow a freak thing to happen. I for one look for such things a fire where significant property damage is done. If malicious circumstances are not suspected, I'll list it as an accident on the fire report so the insurance will pay. Even if it was negligent, it wasn't done on purpose. That means it's an ACCIDENT. That's what insurance is for. RIGHT?
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