Washington State Walmart Camper blows himself up

frankdamp wrote:
Unfortunately. to store your various fuels "outside the living area" of an RV assumes there are some outside storage areas in a particular rig. I don't think that late 1980's, Renault-powered, small Winnebago/Itasca had very much.

Really in my TT every storage compartment is inside in one way or another. The only way to store stuff outside is to set in out on the ground. That is probably not particle in a wall mart parking lot I bet.

Unfortunately. to store your various fuels "outside the living area" of an RV assumes there are some outside storage areas in a particular rig. I don't think that late 1980's, Renault-powered, small Winnebago/Itasca had very much.

doubt it...this was in Washington State...




NWCN.com

Posted on February 6, 2014 at 12:15 PM

Updated Thursday, Feb 6 at 12:15 PM










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An early morning explosion in Spanaway sent one man to the hospital.

The explosion occurred in an RV parked at the Walmart store on Mountain Highway East at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Ed Hrivnak of Central Pierce Fire and Rescue said the explosion blew out all of the vehicle's windows, seriously injuring the man who was living inside.

Hrivnak said the explosion was caused by fuels stores inside the RV near an open flame.

Firefighters warn that incidents like this are more likely to occur during cold weather when people whose homes are heated by fuels like propane, heating oil or fireplaces store fuels and cleaning solvents near pilot lights or open flames.

Hrivnak said no other vehicles were damaged. No one else was injured

I hope they aren't connected........Blows his Hand Off

HappyKayakers wrote:
Well, scratch that walmart off the overnight list :B

Lol. Another one bites the dust

Dakzuki wrote:
I'm voting white gas explosion too. My dad had a Coleman stove go sideways on him many years ago. Burned him badly, my brother some and burned the basement out of our house. He still carries the scars.....and still has the stove.

Appears the gas valve that slides to stove didn't secure. Or the jet/generator in the valve was bad. Used or been around those stoves since 1952 never an incident. Gas lantern since 60 or so never an incident of any type except burning my fingers when I forget to put carry handle down so lantern doesn't make it hot. Great fishing light best ever invented.

I'm voting white gas explosion too. My dad had a Coleman stove go sideways on him many years ago. Burned him badly, my brother some and burned the basement out of our house. He still carries the scars.....and still has the stove.

Again, go read the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)!
Coleman fuel does NOT have acetone in it!
It has naphtha and other light petroleum distillates.

sayoung wrote:

Raften wrote:
Jeeze, another hasty conclusion. I'm slower with mine but one is forming up nicely.

If there was a large quantity of "coleman fuel" then maybe the rv was a rolling meth lab(a necesary component along with lots of stuff I cant imagine putting down my throat),not saying it was but stealing rv's and using them for a lab is on the rise per my LEO buddy.
More than likely just not thinking.

OooooPs,confused "drain cleaner & antifreeze" but some of the druggies here are subing coleman fuel for the acetone needed.
As I said,probably just a non-thinking moment.

I read all the fear about Coleman lanterns and stoves, and I have to wonder, "HOW could I have been so lucky for so many years?"
I have been around and have used the things since the late 1940's, and never had one explode. We used both "white Gas" and Coleman Fuel.
The great thing about a Coleman lantern was, you could turn it off and have enough time to get in bed before the light actually went out! You can't do that with a propane or electric lantern!
The lessons to be learned from the incident posted in the OP are really very simple: THINK, and BE CAREFUL!