I witnessed something this afternoon that every RVer should be aware of and take heed. I am in a nice Campground on U.S. 24 just east of Colorado Springs. Falcon Meadows. Having just got set up this afternoon we watched a Winnebago go by, searching for his camp site. Pretty soon we saw a woman police officer run in front of our coach, and then a man. We thought they were chasing someone! Then I looked out and across the campground, big flames and black smoke rising above the trees. (I then knew why they were running!)My DH and Son ran over that way - my DH having been our Asst. Fire Chief for many years. He grabbed the camera and got a bunch of pics from beginning to end....heart breaking. He said it ws a gas unit and it started in the motor and was totally ingulfed in about 2 minutes. It was a man and a woman...they got a back pack and two computers out and thankfully no one was hurt...It was in the road, not even parked yet. Anyway, I will post these pics on my Blog site....too much excitement for me! Makes me more aware then ever that one can't be too careful, and if such a thing would occur, it's just "stuff" and that can be replaced....they have each other and can replace the "stuff". Pretty sad for them.....here's the link....www.rvers.com/kayndan and...it figures...I just tried to go onto rvers.com and they must be having issues right now, cause I couldn't access the thing! I will post them as soon as I can get in!!!!! Thanks!!!!

.....we are going to see more and more of this as the economy slows and the need to rid themselves of debit......unfortunately that is the way that debt is taken care of.....geofkaye

Kayerivercity
There was nothing mentioned about them being in debt, no details were given only that thre was a fire. Are you assuming it was intentionally set?

No...found out this morning that they were just dumping....Check out my pics this morning on www.rvers.com/kayndan I got them posted finally!

RV fires are terrible things. We have had two in our bus, and fortunately, both times we got them out before they did any damage. We have taken Mac McCoy's fire safety classes a couple of times and it has paid off.

I'm sure glad I don't live with that kind of cynical view. I seriously doubt it was arson and even if so, it doesn't relieve any DEBT. The insurance only pays for value unless the policy states full replacement. And replacement is likely to be lower than the amount owed and they would still have to pay that.

quote:

Originally posted by KAYERIVERCITY:
.....we are going to see more and more of this as the economy slows and the need to rid themselves of debit......unfortunately that is the way that debt is taken care of.....geofkaye

This kind of comment is uncalled for.

Don S. I totally agree with you on that poster's comment being completely out of line.

Don't understand what makes folks come to such conclusions without having any facts.

I guess I must have over thought Geoff's comment. I took it to mean that as more and more people find themselves forced into living in cheaper housing, there are going to be a lot more cases of people that are living in RVs but not really RVers with a lust and a love and a focus on doing it right... and more accidents will happen.

Nearly had that very thing happen to my Mother's Holiday Rambler some years ago. Class C with a dual fuel upgrade to run on propane, too. Problem in the propane cutoff caused it to be engaged, too, turning the exhaust system a cherry red and melting the undercoating which was dripping down on the exhaust system. Had my cousin not been following, seen the black smoke starting to come out from under the MH and flagged them down immediately, their MH would likely have suffered the same fate.

Sure, at that point it might have been nicer to have the insurance money instead of the debt on an almost new overpriced MH that was delivered two days after my Dad died. This was 2 years later and only 3 trips had been taken in it..... definitely a bad decision to take delivery once Dad was gone.... but no way the fire was more than coincidence.

Glass half empty may see it differently... afterall, there is a cynic in each of us... somewhere.

I have taken care of geofkaye post for a long time. They have never made any good comments.

The forum has that Hide Post that works great.

Ignored post by KAYERIVERCITY posted July 19, 2008 12:23 AM

The same thing happened to a neighbor a few years back. They were heading to AZ to spend the winter with horses in tow. Must have been a gas leak because all at once the rig caught fire. A passerby helped to unhook the horse trailer and pull it back. The rest of the rig and their belongings burned within minutes.

Today, I went to the place where I'll be storing my RV for the month of August. While there, I noticed a burnt out rig. The storage place guy said that one of his clients came in one day, parked his rig, and then went to the village to get a part. Moments after he set out, his rig burst into flames. Apparently, it was most likely an electrical problem. The rig is still on site because there's an ongoing investigation by the manufacturer (didn't catch which one, sorry) and/or insurance company to find out exactly what happened. The storage guy thinks his client might have been working on the electrical system, but has no proof.

It was horrible to see that beautiful class A all burnt up and a sobering reminder to be doubly careful about fire in the rig.

Macthefireguy says most RV fires occur in MH's, most of those fires are engine compartment related fires. One of his fire suppression systems now appears very low priced, comparatively.

Let me relate this story:
We have friends that had, notice I said had, a Pace Arrow on a Ford chassis. They received a recall on the cruise control. They called Ford and were told the parts weren't available yet. they lost all 12 VDC to the coach and 3 hours later the coach was burned. Inspection revealed that the fire started in the cruise control unit. The insurance company paid off and is now in negotiations with Ford.

A couple of days later Ford called and said the parts were available.

quote:

Originally posted by Don S.:
Let me relate this story:
We have friends that had, notice I said had, a Pace Arrow on a Ford chassis. They received a recall on the cruise control. They called Ford and were told the parts weren't available yet. they lost all 12 VDC to the coach and 3 hours later the coach was burned. Inspection revealed that the fire started in the cruise control unit. The insurance company paid off and is now in negotiations with Ford.

A couple of days later Ford called and said the parts were available.

Ironic_. That's why the notification letter said to immediately disconnect the CC, to eliminate possibility of fire while waiting for the required parts to be installed. Macs fire supression unit would have likely smothered the fire, resulting in minimal damage.