Concerns about Fire Safety?

[HornedToad]

I think it was initially reported as a front tire blowout, but has been corrected to rear tire fire - no initial reporting why the rear tire caught fire - run low flat, or hub/brake malfunction - either one probably created the high temps and ignition.

I've posted this photo of my friends camper before on a TowMax tire thread.

The picture tells another story. I was following him home and by the time I pulled up he had his wife and young daughter about 100 yards away down the fence line and was turning off his propane tanks. He said when he got out to inspect the damage there was the strong odor of propane where the tire blowout had ruptured the propane lines to the furnace & water heater. He was lucky the steel belts on the pavement didn't spark a fire!!!

 

[porthole]

Class A: Fires with trash, wood, paper or other combustible materials as the fuel source.

Class B: Fires with flammable or combustible liquids as the fuel source.
Class C: Fires involving electrical equipment.

Class A think "ordinary combustibles", everyday items that can burn

Class B think flammable or combustible liquid or gas

Class C is "energized" electrical equipment. Once the electric is cut, it is a Class A or B. Note that electrical equipment is considered "energized" until "proven" otherwise. For us, it is the AC, alternating current side of the RV we have to concern ourselves with.

Class D - combustible metals. Many vehicles have multiple parts made from combustible metals, mostly magnesium. Wheels are one item, the many computers on vehicles have magnesium boxes as well.

Class K - cooking oils, fats, grease etc, usually as related to commercial kitchens. Although they could be considered a Class B, for several reasons they have a separate designation.

From the little bit of experience that I have, what I can say is that most of the fire extinguishers that are supplied with the rigs, or that we carry are insufficient to put out anything but the smallest of fires.
You are better off installing extra or new smoke-heat detectors and figuring how you will get out in an emergency.

And, lets not forget Solar panels - which never turn off.

Solar has caused the US Fire Service to re-write the the standards with solar panel fires. That came about when a warehouse in New Jersey burned to the ground because the solar panels would not allow access or conventional means of suppression. A $5,000,000 loss.

 

[wdk450]

I've posted this photo of my friends camper before on a TowMax tire thread.

The picture tells another story. I was following him home and by the time I pulled up he had his wife and young daughter about 100 yards away down the fence line and was turning off his propane tanks. He said when he got out to inspect the damage there was the strong odor of propane where the tire blowout had ruptured the propane lines to the furnace & water heater. He was lucky the steel belts on the pavement didn't spark a fire!!!

Supposedly, the modern propane tank valves have a valve that activates with massive propane flow and cuts off the propane. But I wouldn't want to test if this truly works - I'll leave this to the propane professionals and the NFPA.

 

['Lil Guy']

KaKampers:
Would be so interested to know your plan for your pets to escape. We have a precious Golden Retriever who weighs 60 lbs... and a kitty person who weighs 11... would you try to wrap them in a bedspread and drop them from the window or ???
Not trying to beat a dead horse here... I just truly would love to know people's thoughts on this subject including escape plans for our precious fur babies.
Thanks..
sign me
Daughter of a Volunteer Fire Fighter... Dad always made me very aware of fire dangers... Bless his Soul

That dog is probably the best smoke detector you could have. With sensitive noses, it would be the first to alert you of any smoke in the RV due to his nervous pacing and alerting you to let him out. The cat? Just grab it and drop it out the window. He will land on his feet every time. Maybe on his head if he's rapped up in something. We haven't traveled with our pets as of yet but I do believe a dog wouild be the best fire detector you could have. At home we had something burn on the stove. No fire, just some smoke and our dogs were going crazy trying to get us to let them out.

 

[RVFun4Us]

Thank you for yet more interesting replies on this subject. We met a couple who had just come from an RV Seminar and was sharing information they had just learned. The first thing the instructor said was throw out the fire extinguisher that came with your RV and replace it with a much larger one that covers more combustibles. We have done that and replaced smoke detectors too. I can assure you that my smoke detector works, as every time I cook the darned thing goes off! LOL I feel safe and secure that it would pick up anything that was even warm! We have new propane and gas detectors installed too. Our only concern lies with that window that looks mighty difficult to escape through. I guess if we hadn't gone to an RV show and noticed the new floor level larger escape windows we probably wouldn't have thought about this whole subject!

 

[jmgratz]

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a seminar put on by "Mac the fire guy" do so as it one of the best ever. We bought several fire extinguishers after attending one and learning the ones we had were insufficient. BTW he does have alot of info on YOU TUBE regarding RV Fire safety.

 

[jbeletti]

Mac will be putting on a 2 hour class and demonstration at the Goshen rally.

 

[wdk450]

I thought I would throw out with this thread on a probable propane fire possibly cause by a leak in the line. Short of turning off your main propane valves every time the trailer is towed, I added this improvement to the flexible rubber line that is under my kitchen slide:


This is thick wall, tough, plastic tubing with woven fiber mesh in the tubing wall. It was installed after posts on this forum talked about fragments from blown tires severing propane gas lines.

 

[jbeletti]

Good idea Bill. Ya know, this reminds me of something I saw a couple weeks ago. Kevin W has a short length (3 feet) of water hose that has been over-jacketed with a piece of galvanized flex conduit (aka Greenfield - BX - armored). I think the premise of that product is to use it at the hydrant in a campground so their weed wackers don't chew up your water hose.

Anyway, wonder if even better than the hose you used as an outer-jacket, would be a length of flex conduit - offering even more protection for the flexible gas line? If eventual rusting of the galvanized conduit was a concern, it even comes in plastic coated (aka Seal-tite). Of course, the OD may be more than desired and the minimum bend radius of the product may not be enough for how it has to bend when the slide closes.

Just thinking out loud. Thank you also for adding your outside-of-the-box thinking on solutions.