Wakenaam farmer hit hard by spontaneous combustion

Aug 24, 2009 News

A Wakenaam resident who cultivates a farm at Hamburg Island (Tiger Island) has suffered almost one million dollars in losses due to a fire, believed to have been caused by spontaneous combustion, and which has been burning out of control for more than a week.

Thakurpersaud Lookram surveys his crop.

Thakurpersaud Lookram, popularly known as “Pullout” cultivates plantains, pumpkins and watermelons.
On Wednesday August 13, Lookram left his farm with a shipment of pumpkins for Parika. He did not return to his farm until the police informed his wife that there was a fire there for several days – this was one week after he had left.
He travelled to his property and found that about eight acres of young pumpkins had been completely wiped out. The distraught farmer told this newspaper that this is the first time since he has been farming that he has experienced such a great loss. He tried to extinguish the fire using buckets but this proved futile.
When asked what may have caused the fire, Lookram said he did not know as neither he nor his employees had visited that section of his 34-acre plot within the last two weeks. The fires were burning against the wind and could be seen rising and lowering at different sections of the field as the sun became hotter when Kaieteur News visited he farm.

Smoke billows from among the crops.

It was observed that the farm was located on pegasse soil.
When contacted by this newspaper, a source at the National Agricultural Research Institute said that it was not uncommon for fires to start on pegasse soil especially in this hot weather due to spontaneous combustion. It was noted that very often these fires which are below the surface, particularly with this soil, normally have to burn themselves out.