Smoldering fire behind refrigerator

[rv_slug]

Hello there. Long time no post, but here I am again. Recently purchased a 1990 Vision Class A, and it was a nice deal on a nice coach. I have been going through it trying to find any minor issues I can remedy, since it had been parked for two years.
I ran the refrigerator (a Norcold 2-way) on AC power for a day and it worked great. Then I decided to check propane operation. It lit right up and I ran it for a few minutes but it was late in the evening, so I decided not to leave it running overnight.
The next day I started it again and within about 15 minutes my girlfriend alerted me that there was a fire somewhere. I discovered that there was a smoldering fire in behind the burner chamber.
Luckily I had an dry-chem extinguisher handy and I had it put out quickly. We have a yellowjacket (wasp) problem in my area and there were several of them seen leaving the refrigerator vent on top of the coach. Those darn things will make nests anywhere they can get to, so I'm thinking they could be the culprits.
Regardless, I am a little scared to start it up again. I took the shop vac out and cleaned it out the best I could. A small amount of debris was removed but no smoking gun was found.
I am hoping somebody here has had this experience, and/or can advise me what I should do next...

[Bob_Shaw]

I had an issue with my water heater after an extended period of non-use. The flames came out into the compartment rather than into the (I guess you'd call it) combustion chamber. Having seen this before I took the venture tube off and cleaned it of the spider web that was blocking the smooth flow of gas. It was almost invisible, but, I ran a stick down it, wiggled it around, and then when back together it worked great. Spiders and mud daubers are a real problem, and apparently attracted to, gas burners.

[Old-Biscuit]

Disassembly burner assembly (burner tube, spark electrode, sheet metal covers etc) and CLEAN burner area (vacuum, air gun, wire brush etc)

[NRALIFR]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I would be cleaning the entire height of the flue, the burner and everything else that could interfere with heat dispersion before I even thought about starting things sup again.

Me too. You will probably have to go at it from the top, meaning take the cover off the roof vent. Remove the long wire with the twisty metal strip from the flue and run a 12 gauge shotgun cleaning brush up and down it the full length. Then blow compressed air to get all the rust blown out.

:):)

[Artum_Snowbird]

With the fire out, lots of air blown about from a pressure nozzle. That will clean out most debris that is in any way loose.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I would be cleaning the entire height of the flue, the burner and everything else that could interfere with heat dispersion before I even thought about starting things sup again.

[Son_of_Norway]

I'd try it again with the cover off and keep a close eye on it.

Miles

[SoundGuy]

rv_slug wrote:
... and/or can advise me what I should do next...

With a coach (and therefore a fridge) that are 26 yrs old I would have thought the answer obvious ... have a qualified tech take a look. :R