Summer heat causes horse poop in Throop, New York to burst into flames

THROOP, N.Y. – How hot is it in upstate New York? So hot that horse manure is bursting into flames.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says it received multiple complaints July 5 about the smell and smoke emanating from a burning pile of horse manure at a property in the town of Throop, in the Finger Lakes region 20 miles west of Syracuse.

The responding officer learned that the owners of a horse stable had been storing the manure in large piles that frequently spontaneously combusted in the excessive heat and dry conditions.

DEC officials say a shift in the prevailing winds carried the odour of burning manure into the neighbours’ windows.

It took three local fire departments two hours to douse the burning manure.