Just wanted to let all the members about a VERY scary incident that happened on the Campsite we were staying on over the Bank holiday.
A man in a campervan had gone to bed and his van set on fire.
Thankfully, the fire brigade came quickly and put it out. No-one was hurt, mostly smoke damage and the van was driveble so he was able to get home.
But..the cause, I find is really worrying. The flue that houses the pilot light for the fridge had corroded over time due to water dripping when he washed up. It seeped down the unit and rusted away the pipe....resulting in the flame being able to get to the wood and insulation on the van walls and start a fire. His smoke alarm did'nt go off as the flames were licking up the side of his van from the outside, the fire was coming out of the fridge vents.
This could happen to ANYOne where the fridge is next to the sink.
Please get things checked out if you can......someone else may not be as lucky!!!
This is just down to no maintanence---80s VW campers are still very popular--you can pick up a goodun for £3k--obviously people fix the engines or they wouldnt go--but they will happily use cookers/fridges/EHUs than have had zero maintanence for 20 yrs-----
I am assuming if you have your van serviced every year, this shouldn't happen!
Still surprised that the smoke alarm didn't go off, even though the flames were outside, there must have been smoke coming in. My smoke alarm goes off every time I make toast!!
Our smoke alarm goes off so often when I'm cooking (it even seems to go off with steam!), I take the battery out when I'm cooking!! But I NEVER close the alarm up with the battery out, so it's obvious it's out, and I ALWAYS put the battery back in before going to bed (the alarm is above the bed, so on the rare occasions I forget to put the battery back before getting into bed, the open alarm cover right over my head reminds me). I know it's naughty, but it's either that or some poor soul has to spend every minute I'm cooking with their finger on the 'Silence' button!
The van was an M reg and the man said it wad serviced as often as it should have been. A couple of the firemen said that they had been to couple of things like this before. The pilot light is often the cause of a fire, I suppose when you think about it.....gas and naked flames!! Infact, the Chief Fireman came around the site the next morning armed with loads of reading stuff and alarms and the like and went to every van and camper to make people fire aware.
We find our smoke alarm doesnt go off if we cook with the window by the cooker open and the omnivent on...abit loud, but it does its job.
The sensors in battery powered smoke alarms put in caravans have an optical eye so unfortunately steam can simulate smoke and break beam of light emitting diode to photocell and trigger alarm. The joys of cooking in a Caravan having alarm going off , lucky there is a silence button.
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Do you suffer from an OCD. Obsessive Caravan Disorder.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: FIRE!!!!!!!
