A large hay fire on the UC Davis campus Sunday turned into a nearly 12-hour job for city and university fire crews.
The blaze broke out shortly after 6 a.m. near the Cole animal science facility off La Rue Road and was first spotted by a campus maintenance worker, who alerted the Fire Department as well as residents who were staying in a neighboring historic barn, Division Chief Joe Tenney said.
Crews were able to contain the fire to the hay bales before it spread to any of the nearby buildings, although a Bobcat tractor was damaged during the incident, Tenney said. No injuries were reported.
While the flames were quickly brought under control, firefighters remained on scene until about 5:40 p.m., spreading out the hay — some of which had to be trucked to an area on the west side of campus due to the haystack’s large size — to fully extinguish the embers and prevent any flare-ups.
A subsequent investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office determined the cause of the fire to be spontaneous combustion within the haystack, according to Tenney.