‘ ‘ ‘ The flame is usually considered a crucial part of a fire. Except, occasionally, in… ‘ ‘ ‘ The flame is usually considered a crucial part of a fire. Except, occasionally, in Oakland. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Pitt police responded to four mulch fires in the last five months. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘They’re called fires,’ said Pitt police Chief Tim Delaney, ‘but they’re smoldering. There’s not even a flame.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Delaney consulted people in charge of grounds keeping about the fires. Two of the ‘fires’ ‘mdash; one outside Panther Hall in June and another outside the Cathedral of Learning in August ‘mdash; probably happened when someone dropped a cigarette onto a pile of mulch, he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ One fire, which happened in May on a bank near Bigelow Boulevard and Parkman Avenue, was from a steam leak, according to the police blotter. ‘ ‘ ‘ The city fire department confirmed steaming mulch in the 5500 block of Center Avenue at 4:39 p.m. on Sept. 10. ‘ ‘ ‘ Delaney could not be reached to comment on a mulch fire that happened in the 5500 block of Centre Avenue last week. ‘ ‘ ‘ Delaney said he wasn’t concerned about the fires. ‘ ‘ ‘ If someone was lighting them on purpose, he said, there’d be far more of them. And, he added, he can’t remember one ever causing substantial damage. ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt professor George Bandik said that while he wasn’t an expert on mulch fires, his background in chemistry would lead him to think that mulch should, theoretically, catch on fire like any other substance. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Personally, I would think it would burn a lot faster, because there’s a lot more surface area,’ he said. The larger the surface area, the more places the oxygen can connect with, fueling the fire. ‘ ‘ ‘ He guessed that mulch fires in Oakland only smoldered because there was moisture in the wood, but elsewhere that hasn’t always been the case. ‘ ‘ ‘ A mulch fire in Warrington County, near Philadelphia, forced people to evacuate a Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant late last month, according to Phillyburbs.com, a news Web site serving people in the Philadelphia area. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Associated Press reported at the beginning of the month that a mulch fire in Poland, Maine, spread over more than a dozen acres and destroyed several buildings. About 100 firefighters worked to douse the fire. ‘ ‘ ‘ Last year, fire officials said ‘spontaneous combustion in mulch’ caused an estimated $175,000 in damage to a home in a Chicago suburb, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Mulch stored in high piles, 10 to 20 feet deep, has been known to build up enough heat to start a fire,’ the paper reported. ‘ ‘ ‘ Spontaneous fires ‘happen a lot with real, finely powdered things like corn powder,’ said Bandik. Again, he added, ‘It’s simply a matter of there being more surface area’ for the oxygen to react with, fueling the fire. ‘ ‘ ‘ Local landscapers, however, question the theory. Wayne Craig, who’s worked at the Dragun’s Landscape Supply in Ross Township for 10 years, said he’s ‘never seen one catch,’ but that the mulch ‘will get really hot if you pile it really high.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We’d pile it a good 30 feet high, and it would get hot in the [pile], but there’s not really enough oxygen [for a fire],’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The only concern I think you should have would be someone lighting it. Other than that, it really shouldn’t catch fire.’