California Fire

Fire can move IMPOSSIBLY fast.

We lived in the foothills of Southern California for many years and have seen fire burn to within accross the street. Fire that started many miles away the previous day!

The Fireman:
Was the fireman told that someone working on that camper? Napping inside?
Did the storage manager report "no propane tanks" allowed in storage?
. . .too many unknowns to even form a thoughtful opinion.

I lived in southern California for a number of years and watched fire after fire sweep down the hills and ravines. Though I think that the words used to describe the photo were poorly chosen, I do think there is an immense sense of frustration as people have managed to put themselves and their property in danger by building in areas that are inherently dangerous. To the rescue would come the firemen and kids from the prison work camps whom I accompanied on a number of occasions. Inevitably, over time, there would be tragedies as a fire roared up a canyon and engulfed the firefighters. So perhaps the poster was reflecting the fatigue many of us had in SoCAl with the mudslides, fires and traffic smashups. I felt that the place was out of control, unfortunately. Its beauty and wonderful people notwithstanding.

When I see my own model Lance and my own model white Dodge pickup burning to the ground, I get the shivers.
regards, as always, jefe

A tragic loss in many ways. :(

Buzz: Looks just like you. I can see the resemblance :)

jefe 4x4 wrote:
When I see my own model Lance and my own model white Dodge pickup burning to the ground, I get the shivers.
regards, as always, jefe

Yep, same as mine also. Makes you worry a bit.

Golden_HVAC, I bet you feel "really ******" for making those comments now. Next time do some research.

that looks just like my lance,guess this is a reminder to change the battery in the smoke detector?scary pic for sure

Seeing that RV storage lot and how it is set-up (high fence, steel gates, etc.)makes me wonder how owner access is controlled? If I showed up to rescue my RV from the fire racing towards it and could not get in because the lot owner evacuated, or the power to the access gate was cut off or etc. I would be a very unhappy camper!!!!!

Our home after a wild-land fire in CA that started by arson.

RZAR66 wrote:
Golden_HVAC, I bet you feel "really ******" for making those comments now. Next time do some research.

In a way, yes I did use a poor pick of words.

However as a person who spent time on accident review boards, I know that if a propane tank (even a portable 1 pound tank) had let go while he was that close to the flaming wreck, about 1/2 of the accident reveiw board would be thinking "Good job saving that RV, but your head got really torn up. Would you recommend someone else do the same thing if a fire started in a storage facility tomorrow?"

That is just how accident review boards work.

And no, I never wore a suit in my job, always drove a truck with a toolbox body, and used the wrenches every day. Except those days I was stuck doing paperwork, and trying not to make any of my co-workers think I was the biggest jerk in the world for monday morning quarterbacking their mistake. My job on the accident review board was to make recomendations to prevent the next guy from getting hurt.

Afterall if three people a year twist a ancle getting out of the 4' high emergency communications trailer to the ground, was it not better to recommend a better stair system or let them keep getting hurt and have more instant ice packs on hand?

I am sure happy this guy was not hurt, because if a propane tank had exploded, he would have made headlines. And I do truely know that all firefighters, police and many others have a job that involves running towards the danger zone, places I did not want to be.

Yet I would sometimes be just outside the danger zone, making sure they had replacement oxygen tanks that are full, so they can return to the ingulfed building, or fill the diesel tank on the truck if it was going to run low.

I took care of 23 fire stations air conditioning systems, and talked with these guys frequently. Yes I know they get a lot of training. But my first gut reaction was "Not to bright to be next to the propane tanks".

I have not seen any RV storage areas that require all RV's to have the tanks empty or removed from the RV. So I would make a evaluation of the situation, and say that more than 50% will have a possible propane tank, or portable tank. Yes the propane tanks are designed to slowly vent at a certain pressure, yet that venting propane becomes a torch.

I have seen pictures of the torches used in the Pacific war, they where not pretty sight. No I don't want to see one in action or in person.

So I am more conservative than a fireman can be. He is sent into the burning wreckage of the RV storage area, into harms way, and right over to those burning RV's with propane tanks. I guess with the proper training, the tank will not explode or harm the fireman.


Fred.