Mysterious Fire Sparks Volunteer Fireman, A Hair Cut Above

[Jim O'Bryan]

I have been on the road all day taking come of some loose ends for the upcoming issue, and some other things. Read anything interesting?

Well while driving down Detroit from City Hall, I saw smoke rising out of the ground! Serious burning bush stuff you read about in scriptures. Well maybe not, but it was strange for sure.


The mulch in front of O'Leary and Mikula DDS was smoking. No flames, just a little smoke, then more and more.


One of the guys from "A Hair Cut Above" walked down looked at the situation and called the Lakewood Fire Department.


Just as you could start to see flames coming to the surface.


He went back to the shop and got the fire extinguisher and put out the fire. Which started again.




Lakewood Fire Department took over, and even with raking and water...


Small wisps of smoke continued to rise up.


Some more raking and it was over.


Nice work to All and everyone at "A Hair Cut Above" 13431 Detroit Ave.

On a side note spending the day in Brooklyn working on a paper has opened my eyes...

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[Amy Martin]

This is one reason why we don't use commercial mulch. It is filled with chemicals and dyes. Our hairdresser had just opened up his new shop in Rocky River years ago and in the middle of the night, someone driving down Linda threw a cigarette into his mulch and the entire building went up in flames and had to be completely rebuilt. The firemen in River told him that mulch is extremely flammable. We use sweet peat, which is a totally organic product. The stuff you buy in bags at the grocery store/lawn center is crap.

[Michael Deneen]

Fire? Hair?
I was expecting a post about this guy.
#70shumor
#namethatmayor

[Tim Liston]

Amy I thought Sweet Peet was more or a soil amendment, like humus or manure. I used it instead of mulch once year on my beds and fought weeds the rest of the season. So I stick with bark mulch, undyed. And when I want something to help the soil, like I did in my little tomato garden at the other house, I just go to the nursery and dicker for a better price on whatever they seem to have a lot of. Sweet Peet is very expensive. And mulch can be purchased undyed. I'm very happy with what I bought this year.

[Amy Martin]

Not sure what happened in your case, but we've had nothing but great experience with Sweet Peat over the years - no weeds, etc. And, it composts itself back into your soil and enriches it year after year. There are knock-offs, but we use the genuine Sweet Peat product. Yes, it is expensive, but worth it. Look on side of the bags of mulch that you buy and even if undyed, it is still filled with chemicals.

[Peter Grossetti]

Four keys to good gardening:
1.) know the right way to water,
2.) soil preparation,
3.) soil preparation,
4.) soil preparation.

Yes, Sweet Peat costs at least twice what a bag of dyed mulch ... but consider it a financial investment in your garden (and our planet).

[Tim Liston]

I agree with Amy and Peter re: Sweet Peet. Good stuff. But for weed control, Sweet Peet is counterproductive. And plain ol' mulch also improves the appearance of a bed just as well. From the looks of the flaming bed, my guess is that soil prep is not an issue. So mulch it is....

As for checking the side of the bag, between my two places, we put down 24 yards. That would be 324 bags. I don't do it every year. In fact I don't do it all by myself anymore. Too much like work....

Thanks for the info on chemicals. I'll remember to be discerning, though here in Lakewood I don't use dyed mulch. A lot of people use that black stuff, I really don't like the look of it. My fellas out at the other place used the black stuff though. Next time I'll remember to be more specific, or order it myself.