Almost Had a Fire Last Night

[phillyg]

Our dog woke my DW last night (I wasn't home), to a haze of smoke and strong electrical smell. The smoke detectors did not activate! She got our 5yr old granddaughter out, along with the dog. DW pulled out the 50a shore power.

DW saw smoke coming up behind the stove and she called the fire dept., which arrived before I did. They found "light" smoke and determined a breaker had tripped. That breaker services the TV and the fridge.

I noticed a strong electrical and plastic smell when I arrived after midnight. The FD couldn't find any active burning and suspected a bad electrical connection, and suggested not connecting back to shore power, with which I wholeheartedly agreed, until we could get to a repair shop.

This morning, we found light soot in the drawers next to the stove so I pulled them and the one under the stove and found a melted 120v connector. It joins the sheaved flexible wire to the solid Romex cable inside the kitchen slideout . The connector was screwed to the floor, along with two other similar ones. I have no idea why it failed, but thankfully, the breaker tripped before it started a fire on the floor or the wall 2" away. Also, the gas line runs right next to the wires. There is a lot of soot within an 8" radius.

I've never seen this type of connector before, and I suspect it's only used in the RV industry. I'm familiar with residential steel or plastic junction boxes; I used a steel box to make the repair. I'll likely get a bigger junction box and eliminate the other two connectors, too. BTW, the FD checked the smoke detectors and they worked. I find it strange that sometimes cooking on the stove trips one of the detectors but last night's smoke did not.

Bottom line: We love our fire safety dog Blu, and are thankful no one was hurt, or worse

[rjf7g]

Whew! Thank goodness you are only dealing with stuff! Glad everyone is ok.

[TucsonJim]

That is great news that the fire didn't spread and endanger everyone. Based upon my knowledge and experience, I'd recommend you change your smoke detectors to a different style.

I added three First Alert SA320CN alarms to my trailer. The detect two different ways. Ionization AND photoelectric. This way they can detect both smoldering and flaming fires.

SA320CN

[Flyfasteddie]

Glad to hear everyone is okay, and kudos to your dog and quick-thinking DW.

I think a little extra caution is a good thing in an RV as they are not always built with the greatest care, and tend to have some semi-dodgy components. Not to mention an open flame in the fridge area when boondocking.

To that effect I always keep a bug-out bag next to the door when we turn in for the night. It's a laptop backpack with the laptop, keys (including keys for the ATV's that are parked outside a little way from the motorhome when boondocking) flashlight, wallets, cell phones and a sweatsuit for DW and I. Also have the cat carrier next to it.

My main concern is the propane fridge; my brother-in-laws MH went up while parked outside his house the night before leaving on a trip.

In the event of an issue late at night it's nice to have the necessities at hand - toss the backpack over the shoulder, cat in the carrier, and hop on the ATV's to get back to civilization.