# interesting article



## g/o (Jul 13, 2004)

> Montana doctor sues ND man over combine fire
> By DAVE KOLPACK Associated Press Writer
> The Associated Press - Saturday, December 27, 2008
> 
> ...


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

> and mental distress.
> 
> "Bland and his partners have experienced compensable mental distress


 

Gotta love the term "pheasant hunting course"


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## TK33 (Aug 12, 2008)

The definition of hunting course is-

A place for people (not hunters) to that are too lazy and lack basic knowledge to engage in fair chase hunting to waste land and game. uke:


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## bretts (Feb 24, 2004)

Parts of it yeah I shake my head, but that grower should have had a fire extinguisher and/or water on hand. That's just poor planning. I think he should atleast cover the damages of the trees or help compensate atleast something in the deal.


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## TK33 (Aug 12, 2008)

I have never had the misfortune of having a combine start on fire on me, but I have seen 3 in my life. A fire extinguisher on a combine fire can be as useless peeing on a forest fire, especially if it is in the sunflowers. The local volunteer fire depts would get stretched pretty thin if they had to go out and monitor every combine harvesting, and it is not feasable to drag a water truck with your combines, grain carts, and trucks.

Another wedge driven between hunters and farmers.


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## duckp (Mar 13, 2008)

Yeh a wedge alright.Especially if the hunter had burned the farmers woods down.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

I'm pretty sure we all have farm insurance for this... I know I do.


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## snowslayer (Feb 4, 2008)

No one is going to be a ble to be totally prepared for a combine to start on fire unless they take a fire truck withthem everywhere they take there combine and as TK33 said a fire extinguisher is not going to do anything. The Guy who created the hunting presevere or whatever it is should quit whining and move on. He's a doctor anyway he probably has money coming out of the wazoo anymways


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## bjertness07 (Jan 4, 2005)

Welcome to sue-happy America. Just another way to make a quick buck.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

Very sad. Yes, he should have had a fire ex, but who knows if it would have done anything. Farmer should counter sue for mental deress for having a hunting perserve next door. :roll:


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## Ruthless (Nov 6, 2008)

> The hunting course is known as "the forest"


I bet they rent golf carts and have caddies....and don't forget the beer cart.


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## tsodak (Sep 7, 2002)

I would say aftyer having fought a number of combine fires, that any combine should carry a fire ex in the cab, one at the header, and a third in the engine compartment. They will not stop every fire (anyone who has seen a soybean or sunflower fire start from static willunderstand, they jump around the machine in ways you can not believe) but will definately help an awful lot. If the farmer had none at all, I would think negligence is in order.

Also, I bet there would be a wildly different reaction from the farmers on here if a hunters suburban had caused this fire and burned up an older combine. Twist this however you want, negligence is negligence, for both parties.

Finally, a pheasant hunting "course"??? I have honestly never heard that term before. Either the writer or the landowner sounds like a flake to me.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

It was even on the News tonight. :roll:


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## ndfarmboy (Jan 7, 2006)

Hey guys,
I tried to refrain from posting on this but just couldn't help it. I know Monty. He did have an extinguisher with and tried to put it out. With his best efforts he could not get it under control and called the local volunter fire dept. I'm sorry it burned so many trees and caused this person "mental distress" :-? I've never heard of a "pheasant course" here but I guess enything is possible. Get out and hunt like the rest of us! If you ask me this is just pathetic. Do I drag a water tank with me wherever I go combining? NO I have had combine fires harvesting sunflowers. Sometimes it is inevitable. I have burned the next section next to me. Unfortionety, I think this is going happen more and more here. People buying up small parcels of land between active farmed land. This is an active AG AREA, not a "pheasant course area." S**T HAPPENS 
:eyeroll: 
Shannon


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

ndfarmboy said:


> Hey guys,
> I tried to refrain from posting on this but just couldn't help it. I know Monty. He did have an extinguisher with and tried to put it out. With his best efforts he could not get it under control and called the local volunter fire dept. I'm sorry it burned so many trees and caused this person "mental distress" :-? I've never heard of a "pheasant course" here but I guess enything is possible. Get out and hunt like the rest of us! If you ask me this is just pathetic. Do I drag a water tank with me wherever I go combining? NO I have had combine fires harvesting sunflowers. Sometimes it is inevitable. I have burned the next section next to me. Unfortionety, I think this is going happen more and more here. People buying up small parcels of land between active farmed land. This is an active AG AREA, not a "pheasant course area." S**T HAPPENS
> :eyeroll:
> Shannon


 :beer:


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## joshua.jeffreys (Jul 26, 2006)

TK33 said:


> I have never had the misfortune of having a combine start on fire on me, but I have seen 3 in my life. A fire extinguisher on a combine fire can be as useless peeing on a forest fire, especially if it is in the sunflowers. The local volunteer fire depts would get stretched pretty thin if they had to go out and monitor every combine harvesting, and it is not feasable to drag a water truck with your combines, grain carts, and trucks.
> 
> Another wedge driven between hunters and farmers.


Having a water truck or pickup with a water tank and a pump is feasable and most folks have that in the field during harvest


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

Shannon,

:beer:


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

> Bland claims Larson was negligent in the August 2007 fire because it was a hot and windy day and Larson had "no practical means of controlling a foreseeable combine fire."


A foreseeable combine fire??? Can this doc see the future. He better be carefull. His patients may come back and sue him for the forseeable illnesses he should have "pre-treated".

As mentioned, that is what we have insurance for. The farmer might be faulted for not turning it into his insurance cause this should be their battle.

I wonder who has been "feeding" all these pheasants for years???????? I wouldn't even doubt that the fire may improve the habitat , though it may take a year or so.


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## hammerhead (Dec 22, 2004)

joshua.jeffreys said:


> Having a water truck or pickup with a water tank and a pump is feasable and most folks have that in the field during harvest


I have rarely seen a water truck in the field while combining has been going on. Even custom combiners don't have water truck on hand. Alot of farmers combine solo, if you are a half section away from the water truck when a fire starts that's a half mile you have to go to get to the water truck.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

It's a good example of life itself, if you do nothing you will make no mistakes but if you get off your arse and try to get ahead in life you will undoubtedly make a few mistakes along the way. Is that not simple enough? :beer:


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## TK33 (Aug 12, 2008)

> Having a water truck or pickup with a water tank and a pump is feasable and most folks have that in the field during harvest


My family and several of my friends farm in the valley, including three custom harvesters. Not a single one of them have a water truck on hand, in fact I have never even heard of anyone having a water truck out there when they combine. It is NOT feasible because by the time you get a water to a machine that is packed full of dust, not to mention diesel fuel it would be too late. One guy's combine smoldered for several hours after the fire dept put it out. Once those machines start on fire they go up very quickly.

Anyway this is a bogus lawsuit and hopefully the judge tosses it before it sees a jury.


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## frosty (Dec 6, 2002)

I have relatives who farm in western ND. This year during harvest they immediately worked the first two rounds once they combined to create a firebreak. They also had with them a pull-behind fire pumper which belongs to their township that the neighbors share during dry times and for wild fires in their area. They do this every fall - because most years when you are combining in western ND it is dry and fires can easily occur.


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## TK33 (Aug 12, 2008)

I stand corrected

does everyone use these? Are they for wild fires or to put the combine out?


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## duckp (Mar 13, 2008)

Would it be OK for the Doc to burn down the farmers place accidentally?

Do Drs have a right to own land?Improve it?Sue those who destroy it?(maybe its just farmers?)What if the Doc had recently saved a farmer or twos life while practicing medicine?Change anything for you?

If he'd burned down a neighboring farmers field would that be OK?

What if the farmers field was near town and he burned down a house or two?Are they out of luck cause its an 'ag area'?

Mainly though,I'd like to know if you'd be 'OK'with the farmer burning down your place?


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## TK33 (Aug 12, 2008)

you make a point,

but the issue is negligence. Fires happen and as stated above the farmer did make an attempt to extinguish it. If lightning strikes your house and catches it on fire then catches your house on fire before your neighbor could extinguish it should he then have the right to sue you?

All these frivolous lawsuits raise insurance rates, thus increasing input costs for farmers. In the long run we all pay, not only as hunters but also as consumers.

As far as the ag land thing goes it is farm land first. I don't know the laws but it would be zoned ag. Risk you take buying hunting land.


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## hammerhead (Dec 22, 2004)

Where does the trespass come in. Was it because the Fire trespassed from the farm land to the preserve. or was it because the farmer trespassed onto the preserve to help put the fire out.


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## duckp (Mar 13, 2008)

TK,
I agree,the issue is negligence.Until thats been determined,nothing is frivolous.
The fact the farmer helped trying to put it out is irrelevant to the issue of negligence.If I run over someone negligently,helping them to the hospital is just the right thing to do-but it doesn't erase my negligence.
I own a farm myself.If someone causes me a significant loss and they refuse to make it right,I'll sue them if I feel they were negligent-as would near everyone here if in those shoes.
The fact this guy is a 'doc' and may have money is totally irrelevant under our system of lawful government-thank god.


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## TK33 (Aug 12, 2008)

agreed.
just looking at nd farmboy put on it seems that this was an accident.

These garbage lawsuits are happening here now more and more.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

Has anyone ever burnt a ditch? A slough? I know from experience within a couple of years that will be back as a bigger and better pheasant course. I hunted a slough today that was burnt down to nothing last fall, and it was chest high. Obviously it will take longer in Western ND, as it is dry, but it will turn out to be a good thing for the area.

My Father is an insurance adjuster on farm Equip, and he has never heard of a farmer having a water truck following a combine around. Most of the time they excede there deductable worth of damage within a couple min, so why not get a whole new combine...... :-?

Also, how many fire men we have on hand? Water isn't good on a mechanical/ fuel fire. Infact it may spread the fire. Just a thought.


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## stash (Jan 20, 2007)

If you want to protect YOUR pheasant preserve put in your own fire break!


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## MOB (Mar 10, 2005)

Accidents happen. Should someone who accidentally starts a fire be held responsible for the damage? Yes, most of the time. Is the doctor being unreasonable with his claim? Probably. Is the farmers insurance company refusing to pay for damages caused by their client, therefore forcing the doctor to file a lawsuit? Most likely. I'd like to know the whole story.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

> If you want to protect YOUR pheasant preserve put in your own fire break!


That might be the most intelligent comment on this issue!!! Why not have a fire break, especially as dry as it has been in western ND!!!


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## duckp (Mar 13, 2008)

Yeh,I agree,the farmer should have had one.


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## HUNTNFISHND (Mar 16, 2004)

What's a pheasant hunting course? :roll:

Maybe the good doctor should stick to golf! :lol:


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## bretts (Feb 24, 2004)

I think many of you are missing the point. Whether he's a doctor, garbage man, insurance agent etc. THAT DOESN"T MATTER. Im sure the farmer did what he could to stop the fire, but flip it around. Now i'll bet attitudes would change! Like previously posted, what if the doctor burnt up a bunch of wheat stubble crp and trees on that farmers land?? What the heck do you think that grower would say? Im sure you gave it your best, better luck next time?  Also, how come you guys rag him for being a doctor? Im sure he worked his a$$ off to get where he's at. He's got some money so he bought land and did what he could with it. You'd probably do the same thing! The grower needs to take some responsibility for this plain and simple, whether it be pay for some new trees, seed etc. Not just brush it off, oh well type of thing.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

> Quote:
> If you want to protect YOUR pheasant preserve put in your own fire break!
> 
> That might be the most intelligent comment on this issue!!! Why not have a fire break, especially as dry as it has been in western ND!!!


There now thats good ol fashion common sense!! may you dance in a waterfall of beer and swim in a river of wine!! :beer: :lol:


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## pheasantslayer (May 13, 2004)

This is a lawsuit that definitely concerns me as I am a farmer in the area that this has happened. I will agree that almost all farmers around here carry extinguishers in their combines. I know firsthand however that once a fire starts in this area, chances are the wind will be blowing too fast to catch the fire in time. The probable cause of the fire was probably a bearing that was too hot in the first place. Does that mean he should sue the bearing company?

I also realized the farmer had no comment to say in the article. Hmm, that makes me wonder whose side of the story we are listening too. Could it be that this is just the doctors side of the story?

The trespass charge has me thinking also. If anyone could clarify that one for me it would be appreciated. I did not realize that a someone elses fire could be charged for trespassing.

The mental anguish charge is just ridiculous. Whatever happened to someone saying they were sorry for what they have done. Don't you think that the farmer is a human being and is suffering mental anguish for something he know he did unintentionally.

I will go out with saying that it is a shame that this land started on fire. I am sure it was no ones intention to start a fire and I am sure the doctor put in a lot of time to create this habitat. I would feel sickened if this were to happen to me, but be greatful no one was hurt. Trees can be replaced. My thoughts on this is maybe the doctor didn't like what the farmers insurance agency had to say about the compensation that would be given to him. In a case such as that, the insurance companies lawyers would then take over to make sure the companies do not lose too much money on the claim. Either way it will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Just my .02


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

That Dr. should be smart enough to insure his property. I think its ridiculous to give this web space. :x


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