Tucson: DP up in flames

According to Mack the Fire Guy, the vast majority of RV fires are caused by either propane refrigerators with problems, or Diesel engine fires. .. I believe he told me Diesel engines are the most likely... they do run hot. That Tucson fire looked like it started in the engine....I saw that the front half of that RV still had its fiberglass shell.......

My fridge is 110v or propane. We have no choice but to always drive with the propane on. We also have 2x30 gallon gasoline tanks on board. Horrors! lol

mdprince wrote:
Sad, but I'm very thankful that no one was injured !! Kinda makes me want to turn off the LP at the tank when I drive.

The photos on the FB link look like the fire was from the Fridge aft........

Unless it was an all-electric coach, the Fridge and hot water heater may have been running on LP.

Mack the Fire Guy asks at his RV Fire Safety seminars "How many firefighters here?" X number of hands go up. "How many of you drive with the propane on?" All hands go down.

My inverter, batteries, alternator and solar panels are equal to the task of running the fridge on AC when driving.

bullydogs1 wrote:
At least they caught it...I have seen dealer work slip shod without safety precautions taken and see what they have done.. ie a camper caught because of an electrical short inside the wall that had just had something done by a certain chain that works on campers. This is why I go over everything with a fine tooth comb..and then inspect dealer's work by showing up by surprise....sorry, but the 10% of work not done exactly right I cannot live with...

I think he was maybe saying He caught it and not the dealer.

mdprince wrote:
Sad, but I'm very thankful that no one was injured !! Kinda makes me want to turn off the LP at the tank when I drive.

The photos on the FB link look like the fire was from the Fridge aft........

Unless it was an all-electric coach, the Fridge and hot water heater may have been running on LP.

I don't really see how you can say it's necessarily from the fridge. Certainly the fire does appear to be from something in the rear half of the coach, but that also includes tires, brakes, and engine problems--all of which are relatively high on the list of causes of RV fires. (For that matter, an electrical short could occur most anywhere in the RV, too.)

One would expect that the area around an absorption fridge installation would burn quickly since it has a nice chimney arrangement that provides a good draft.

I had some work done on my 5th wheel by the manufacturer and luckily discovered they had left the filler hose for the generator fuel tank undone. There was 5 gallons of gas in the tank. If I had headed down the road with the fuel sloshing around...one spark and we would of been a statistic.


At least they caught it...I have seen dealer work slip shod without safety precautions taken and see what they have done.. ie a camper caught because of an electrical short inside the wall that had just had something done by a certain chain that works on campers. This is why I go over everything with a fine tooth comb..and then inspect dealer's work by showing up by surprise....sorry, but the 10% of work not done exactly right I cannot live with...

The fires I have heard about (15)from the owners of the RV most were caused by brake, wheel bearing or tire issue. A few were caused by electrical shorts and one by a propane leak.

I had some work done on my 5th wheel by the manufacturer and luckily discovered they had left the filler hose for the generator fuel tank undone. There was 5 gallons of gas in the tank. If I had headed down the road with the fuel sloshing around...one spark and we would of been a statistic.

In late Aug/early Sept we were on heading East through the Colombia River gorge and suddenly hit a traffic jam. About 10-15 cars ahead of us in the W/B lane a 5er had caught fire. For what I could see it looked like the drivers side tires were burning and we could do nothing but sit in traffic and watch it burn to the frame. Embers from the fire blew over the freeway and started a brush fire on the hillside which started moving up and towards us. Again nothing we could do but spectate and pack up the essentials just in case.

Then fire crews arrived on scene....took quite a bit of time, their focus was on the brush fire which were now on both side of the freeway.

Reckon we sat there for over an hour. We did offer toilet facilities and bottled water to some women and children....men and boys to the side of the road.

Tucson Fire Dept photo:

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.