The Case of Spontaneous Combusting Horse Manure

Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!

MINI BELIEVE IT OR NOT –

It’s been so hot in Upstate New York that a pile of horse manure spontaneously combusted.

On July 5th, authorities in Cayuga County responded to calls about stinky smoke
They traced the source of the smell to piles of burning horse manure in a stable
The stable owners said it wasn’t uncommon for piles of horse manure to spontaneously combust
It took three fire departments over two hours to put the fires out
The stable owners were told to start start housing their horse poop differently to avoid another fire in the future



MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.

Source: The Case of Spontaneous Combusting Horse Manure