That moment my compost pile caught fire last August

I was out in my backyard in Portland around 3pm and saw smoke coming from the pile near the fence. Turns out I had too much dry grass clippings and not enough green stuff, plus the pile was way too big - like 5 feet tall. I had to spend the next 2 hours watering it down and mixing in kitchen scraps to cool it off. Has anyone else had a compost pile get too hot and what do you do to keep it balanced?

3 comments

3 Comments

finleyl391mo ago

My buddy Tim had his whole pile steam like a sauna for three days straight.

caseythompson1mo ago

@finleyl39 Three days of steam means that pile was way too wet going in. Bet Tim had to turn it constantly just to keep the air moving or it would have gone anaerobic fast. Good way to kill a batch if you don't stay on top of it.

angelarivera1mo ago

Alright I gotta admit I used to think steam was just part of the deal when a pile was really cooking. But my neighbor had his pile steaming like that for two days last summer and it turned into this slimy grey mess. Had to trash the whole thing. So yeah you're right if Tims pile was steaming that long it was probably too wet going in and he saved it by turning it constantly. Good on him but that sounds like a lot of work for something that couldve been avoided with a drier mix to start.