The ambulance went west . . .

[Tobina+1]

Yikes!  I can't imagine that truck hauling highly flammable liquid with a sparking chain attached to it would be considered "law"?!?!
That just seems like common sense to remove that!  You'd think the drivers would have been a little more concerned for their own safety?
Back to the fire discussion; we did smell smoke at our house on Saturday night.  The wind was blowing, though, so it could have carried the smell a long way.

[Diane Amberg]

I think the chain was for "grounding." I'm sure there are other ways of doing it now, but chain sparks have no fuel to support them so a fire would be difficult. (Gasoline has to mix with air in order to burn; pure liquid gas is too rich to burn. Unfortunately, getting that mix is pretty easy to do.) Now a burning truck tire would be something else again.

[flo]

This is a very dangerous time of the year.  . . . . .  In my opinion, they should outlaw smoking this time of year.  People throwing butts out windows and it lands in the grass and they have no idea what they just caused.  Really, when it's dry like this, even . 

You know, smokers get blamed for all the grass fires.  I'm a smoker for some 55+ years.  Yes I've heard all the "it's not good for you's", so don't go there please.  I DO NOT, nor HAVE I EVER thrown a cigarette butt out the car window.  I have, however, put them out on the ground.  Do you know how hard it is to start a fire with a cigarette butt? They go out if they are not being smoked.  Probably some fires are started by careless smoking, but I'd almost bet it is a very SMALL percentage.  Most of those Saturday fires were caused by trash burning that got away and I understand one was sparks from a welder.   Anyone should have enough sense not to burn trash on a windy day in Kansas or anywhere else.

[W. Gray]

While driving in Wyoming, I noticed a tanker truck refueling at a service station. It suddenly dawned on me that I had not seen a chain on the rear end of one of those trucks for years, perhaps since the 1950s. (Actually, the tanker trucks of the 1950s were very, very small compared to those of today.)

The only thing I can find is the following and cannot vouch for what the guy says about the cover for bureaucrats:

Will a dragging chain actually ground a vehicle? Yes. Until perhaps 40 years ago, many states required gasoline tankers to be grounded via a dragging chain so a buildup of static electricity would not cause a gasoline explosion. Then some bureaucrat realized the dragging chain might cause some idiot to think there was a reason for the chain, and therefore an explosion was possible. So, instead of using chains to eliminate the problem, gasoline tankers were required to have a tiny diamond shaped sign on the back reading "1203." The public was not told that "1203" meant highly volatile gasoline was in the tank as that too might scare them, but the sign was all the "cover" the bureaucrats needed to say they had warned the public. Very clever. Insane, but clever.

From http://www.endtimesreport.com/EMP.html

[flo]

very interesting, Waldo.  I would like to elaborate a bit more on "outlawing smoking" during the dry season.  I don't believe I have ever heard or read of an automobile accident where they said "tobacco was involved" so perhaps they should also outlaw drinking alcohol.  But you know what? Outlawing anything doesn't mean it won't happen.  There are illegal drugs, but those that want them still find them.  People who want to smoke cigarettes or cigars, or those who want to drink alcohol will still find a way.  That was proven during prohibition.  Nuff said, I'm outta here.

[Tobina+1]

Sorry, Flo.  I was in a hurry and generalized my comments too much.  Smoking is your own choice.  And you're right; the fires were started by burning trash this weekend.  I guess I was remembering that some states have those big flashing road signs that say "Fire Danger; don't throw butts" or something like that to warn drivers not to toss them out the window.  Just during parts of the year where it is so dry volitile and when the grass is so long.  
I did see something strange the other day; someone was mowing the ditches in the middle of January!  I'm sure it was probably for 2 reasons... 1) when they needed to mow, fuel was too high 2) now that fuel costs are down, and fire danger is high, they decided to go ahead and minimize the risk of grassfires by having less grass avail.

Also, back on the smoker thing... did you know that a lot of newer cars don't have cigarette ash trays anymore?  It kind of forces people to throw them out the window.  And I've watched cigs bounce on the highway... they throw sparks everywhere.

[flo]

my vehicle has neither an ashtray or a lighter.  I bought a "self-snuffer"

[S-S]

Flo, you made some excellent points. My mother and sisters both smoke. They do not throw their butts out of the car either. I have seen them throw butts in the yard (while the grass was dry) and the cigarette never caught anything on fire.

As for burning trash, I understand it saves money. My home is surrounded by 400 acres of hay meadow - and that's only what our house sets on. There's pasture straight east across the road and also a hay meadow directly south of us. We decided to pay the $22 to have our trash picked up rather than ever take a chance of burning our house down. It's a personal choice I guess.

There is also a bale lot next to our driveway and many times we have worried about the feed truck or tractor sparking a fire, but...What do you do?

[W. Gray]

Margaret Gragg is supposed to be back to the nursing home from the hospital on Monday.