Tucson: DP up in flames

AS noted by several here, it seems most, of the fires, are in the engine area, that we have seen.
Saw one under drivers seat area. May have been a leaking wheel seal and hot generator exhaust but I doubt it.
Cleanliness is next to godliness around a hot engine.
The closest risk I can think of is the plywood engine cover under our bed.
May have to pen it up and consider perhaps a piece of 1/8in aluminum over it.
Certainly fire extinguishers is a great idea but no manufacturer does it.
The list, of improvements even necessary ones, is long, and most don't get around to it. Most think the manufacturers do a good job and leave it at that.
I guess we are luck there are not more fires.

cmeade wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:
Sad. Real glad the owners were ok.

Ever wonder why there are no reported investigations into why so many Class A's go up in flames while driving down the road??? I haven't ever seen any reports.

If a specific make or model of a truck or car had this many incidents of fire there would be a huge investigation as to why. How come not for the Class A's?

IMHO there just has to be a common denominator for these Class A fires that the manufacturere's are skirting around because there is never any investigations regarding them.

In my experience of accident investigations (RVs involved) over 23 years the only 2 mechanical causes were brake fires and excessive accumulation of oil and grease which caught fire when in contact with hot exhaust. None caused by steering or suspension defects surprisingly enough.

This is one of the reason, my Friend where we store the MH wipes off the excess grease from greasing ujoints etc.
The muffler has a cat in it also, and the shield came loose and off one time. Before when others greased it, greeas was slung over everything and some of it ended up on the car shield and windshield and roof of towed.

When we had our fire in August, it started in the engine compartment. The fuel filters had been changed by a Ford dealership in Michigan shortly before the fire. The evidence points to a fuel line coming off the upper filter and the resulting fuel leak ignited. The fire spread though the truck and took out the fifth wheel.

The insurance company did a preliminary investigation, but did not want to pay for a formal investigation because the destruction in the engine compartment did not leave enough evidence. The last time I heard from the insurance company, they were still negotiating with Ford for compensation. This 2013 Ford was meticulously maintained in accordance the the manufacturer's recommendations. And all service was performed by Ford dealerships.

BTW, we were travelling with the propane and refrigerator on, and the fire was extinguised before the propane was ignited.





Jim

The way most diesels have rear facing raditors you're unable to check fittings even if you wanted to. If a fitting is leaking you'd have no way of knowing it! But how many times do you check fittings on your gas powered car? I think the answer for most of us is not often or never.

There's really no way of knowing unless there's a puddle under the engine and as I said above. You can't get to the engine to check it!

Glad no one was injured.

My coach is well maintained but bad stuff can happen. A fuel or hydraulic oil leak in the hot engine compartment can happen. Not likely but possible.

So after attending one of Mac the Fire Guy's seminars, I am a believer in the foam auto fire suppression systems. I have the two nozzle system in my engine bay. My goal would be to gain a bit more time for evacuation and maybe save the toad.

When Snowbirding I traveled up and down i75 for years, the usual snowbird route into Florida, hence forth yes, there is more RV traffic.

I've seen many RV fires and in my case they were all DP's and the rear engine was on fire first. ""Certainly not a controlled scientific test"" but I never saw a TT fire (which most do run with the propane on for fridge, and/or all could have a faulty fridge}.

I only observed DP's that had caught fire starting at the engine.

Dtank wrote:


Ahhhh - so how do you know -or estimate- the number of RVs rolling down the road that are "lacking maintenance"??..:h

Maybe you could furnish a percentage, since you are "in the know".

Easy there turbo.... I'm just making some comments and observations based on MY experiences. I didn't realize there were rules of evidence and documentation on YOUR internet forum.

I base my RV comment on what I've seen with my own eyes on the road and in RV parks. I base my house comment on 17 years of inspecting them. I've crawled above and below over 5,000 homes and have seen more crappy homeowner wiring jobs and other hazards than I could ever count.

mtofell1 wrote:
When you consider how many RVs are rolling down the road at any given time, the lack of maintenance for many, and the lack of training/experience of the folks operating them, it's totally amazing there aren't more fires and other problems.

Same thing with stick built houses - when I see a house fire I'm not surprised. I'm surprised there aren't more given the condition many of them are in.

Ahhhh - so how do you know -or estimate- the number of RVs rolling down the road that are "lacking maintenance"??..:h

Maybe you could furnish a percentage, since you are "in the know".

"Same thing with stick and brick houses........"

The stick & brick houses:
Firefighter for 30 years. Unless something is really,really run down,
the fires I responded to in a major city (in CA) represented all levels of society, with residents who were owners and/or renters - as well as newer and older homes, some (before the fire) in pristine condition, some not.

As to the number of RV fires....
Those 30 years were also spent responding to vehicle fires on one of the busiest freeways (by traffic volume) in the US.
Lots of cars and pickups, and an HDT w/gasoline tanker - but not one RV fire.
(One un-occupied Class A MH parked on a city street)

Of course - maybe the guys on the other shift got all the freeway RV fires - but F/Fs like to hear about what their opposites did on the previous shift. Likewise F/Fs usually own RVs and that would be a hot (no pun intended) topic!
Can't recall anything in the two major newspapers regarding RV fires handled by adjoining agencies.

Doesn't mean they don't happen - but it's just *not* a frequent event.

Investigations.
Never knew of the CHP, city or county LEOs investigating *fires*.
Yes, accidents and loss of life incidents on their roadways - but not fires.
Unless something has changed sine I retired, *FIRE* agencies are required to file incident reports, pursuant to federal regs for same. Some states/counties/cities have more extensive reporting and documentation above the required fed levels.
Fire incident reporting lists the cause, origin, etc.

Although, if well involved (by the fire), cause & origin of vehicle fires may sometimes be difficult to determine due to the level of destruction.

Not counting attorneys representing accident victims, I have NEVER, EVER been contacted by an insurance investigator regarding a vehicle fire - regardless of the cause. (even suspicious fires).

Slightly off topic:
Mobile Home fires. Several over those 30 years.
Think of them as "permanently parked RVs".
The fire and building codes which apply to S&B homes don't apply,
and consequently incipient fires rapidly turn into major fires usually resulting in total "write-offs" - - which lead to the next....

Soap box:
Make sure you have *working* smoke, CO, and propane detectors.
Plan how you will get out if you have a fire - especially when sleeping.
Extinguishers are secondary to the above - and useful for incipient fires. Also - Mac the FireGuy dispenses great advice.


:W

One cause that has not been mentioned is a fuel leak or oil leak. A fellow I know lost his Dynasty to a fuel leak that sprayed hot fuel around the engine compartment. He was driving along and noticed a miss in the engine and then it just quit . By time he got slowed down and stopped it was fully engulfed.He and his DW had enough time to grab the dog and her purse and bail out. He owns a fleet of trucks and his coach was very well maintained.

To me it looks like the heat was in the rear - possibly an engine fire. Also, the rear tire is gone - could have been burned off but also could have been the origin point of the fire. The front end isn't burned so it wasn't a refrig. fire or propane issue.