RV Fires, Pictures to Make you Cringe

[Tirah]

Want to see something creepy?

While searching for "interior RV" images (for decorating ideas), I ran into a website with a bunch of pictures of burned-out RV's (it's an RV Appraisal site, apparently). Some of them are nothing but ashes on wheels. Reminds me of that "fire in trailer" thread.

http://www.rvappraisals.com/fire-investigations.htm

[Chester Taje]

Thats a good reminder to do Gas checks for leaks and to always be vigilent.

[Dan C.]

Was that a Vixen with the electric fire?

[CarolnJim]

In 2005, at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, we were camped in the large parking area when we heard sirens.. the trucks came right past us and we looked out our window and saw a blaze.

This photo was taken the next day thru the tram window but you can see the result. It was a propane tank sitting outside the camper but connected to the stove. When the lady turned the stove on - this was the result. Three people went to the hospital - 2 from the camper and a man that had tried to help.

[Tirah]

In 2005, at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, we were camped in the large parking area when we heard sirens.. the trucks came right past us and we looked out our window and saw a blaze.

This photo was taken the next day thru the tram window but you can see the result. It was a propane tank sitting outside the camper but connected to the stove. When the lady turned the stove on - this was the result. Three people went to the hospital - 2 from the camper and a man that had tried to help.

Gah! How scary! I hope the three people were okay. Now I don't feel quite so neurotic about my taking out all of our propane appliances and going completely 120v. I plan to just break out our old propane camp stove and cook at the picnic table when we boondock (which is rarely until our kids are older).

[davefryg]

What else was scary at that web site was the amount of ford fires caused by faulty
deactivation switches on Ford cruise controls. Is this a problem Ford is hiding??
I am looking for a t.v. at present , but after seeing those pics i am gonna do some checking before consdering a Ford.
Has anyone else heard about this potential problem and how long its been going on

[David and Nancy]

What else was scary at that web site was the amount of ford fires caused by faulty
deactivation switches on Ford cruise controls. Is this a problem Ford is hiding??
I am looking for a t.v. at present , but after seeing those pics i am gonna do some checking before consdering a Ford.
Has anyone else heard about this potential problem and how long its been going on

I had a factory recall on my 2000 Ford F-150 pickup about a faulty cruise control. This was several years back and they replaced the part free. I would guess they have corrected the problem on newer models since then. If you buy an older used Ford you might want to ask if this has been done.

[Gina D.]

Be careful folks!

oh, and don't buy a Bose.

[Roger H]

Gah! How scary! I hope the three people were okay. Now I don't feel quite so neurotic about my taking out all of our propane appliances and going completely 120v. I plan to just break out our old propane camp stove and cook at the picnic table when we boondock (which is rarely until our kids are older).

Tirah, don't over-react. There are probably a LOT more electrical house fires than propane RV fires. I don't suppose you're interested in pulling all of the electrical out of your house?

Propane is an excellent fuel for heating and cooking. Like all systems, though, you just need to service it occasionally and make sure it's working the way it's supposed to. By definition, unless you drag along a genset, you can't boondock in an all-electric trailer. Neither can you use it as a survival shelter when you're out of electricity for an extended period.

Don't be too hasty about pulling the propane out... the self-sufficiency of our trailers is what makes them valuable. Making it all-electric may also devalue the resale considerably.

Roger

[Byron Kinnaman]

Gah! How scary! I hope the three people were okay. Now I don't feel quite so neurotic about my taking out all of our propane appliances and going completely 120v. I plan to just break out our old propane camp stove and cook at the picnic table when we boondock (which is rarely until our kids are older).

I second what Roger said.
If you read the captions associated with pictures the real or root cause of the fire is not mentioned. We don't know if the it was electrical, propane, or something an owner did. I've been involved in fire investigations concerning truck fires. A product I was involved with was blamed by the fire investigators because they didn't go deep enough to really know what caused the fire. Sometimes where the fire starts is NOT the cause, but something elese causes the fire to start.

There's a lot of people that are afraid of propane but don't give the electrical system a second thought. They think nothing of rewiring with out the knowledge needed to the job safely. My guess is that the most common cause of RV fires is a larger fuse was put in or by passed altogether, when some fuse blew and the cause of the blown fuse(s) wasn't fixed.

Most vehicle fires are electrical fires. So it might be better to remove the electrical system and leave the propane.

[Tirah]

Tirah, don't over-react. There are probably a LOT more electrical house fires than propane RV fires. I don't suppose you're interested in pulling all of the electrical out of your house?

Propane is an excellent fuel for heating and cooking. Like all systems, though, you just need to service it occasionally and make sure it's working the way it's supposed to. By definition, unless you drag along a genset, you can't boondock in an all-electric trailer. Neither can you use it as a survival shelter when you're out of electricity for an extended period.

Don't be too hasty about pulling the propane out... the self-sufficiency of our trailers is what makes them valuable. Making it all-electric may also devalue the resale considerably.

Roger

j

"I don't suppose you're interested in pulling all of the electrical out of your house?"

I know- the risk is actually minimal. I'm just completely paranoid beyond reason (in general). We actually did completely rewire our old 1946 house (got a good deal for allowing the electrician to cut huge tunnels in the walls because we were able to do all the wall-patching ourselves). We have yet to rewire our 1911 era house, but that's down the road. See, told ya' I was neurotic!

"Don't be too hasty about pulling the propane out... the self-sufficiency of our trailers is what makes them valuable. Making it all-electric may also devalue the resale considerably."

You do have a very good point. I pulled out the propane, but not completely (left the actual propane mechanisms but took off the stovetop and propane tanks). It will be easy to put it all back in when we resell someday (though we probably won't resell for another 20 years..heh)! I'd imagine we'll go back to the old trailer propane stove once our kids are old enough to know that playing with the propane burners is not a good idea.

[jack maloney]

It would be interesting to know how many refrigerator, furnace and water heater fires started while the RV was on the road. If your LP appliance has a pilot burner, and you get an LP leak anywhere in the RV, the heavy gas can build up until it reaches the level of the burner and then go BOOM!

This happened to me in 1970 when I was working on a documentary film. I picked up a brand new Ford pickup with molded FG camper from the dealer, who had just installed an LP refrigerator. Ten miles down the road I saw black smoke in the rearview mirror - lots of smoke! I pulled off onto the shoulder, turned off the ignition and jumped out. The whole back end of the camper was in flames, the FG roof was melting! The firemen who came on the scene said the LP line to the fridge must have leaked somewhere, and LP built up to the pilot level and ignited. The truck and camper were totalled.

Moral of the story: Have a professional check your LP lines occasionally, and NEVER LEAVE AN LP APPLIANCE TURNED ON WHILE YOU'RE TRAVELING!