RVing and Fire Safety

[sourdough]

I am attaching a link to a current news article about a dive boat catastrophe in CA. It was due to an unexpected fire and resulted in the deaths of all the divers on board. As they are investigating they are finding that although the vessel met all regulations, in real life it might have been woefully inadequate. I have thought many times about trying to exit the RV in the event of a fire; where it might probably start; where we might be etc. This article made me think of that yet again so I'm sharing it with the thought that you might be able to gain something from it and prompt a thought process on how it would actually be in real life vs what was placed in the RV to meet some antiquated criteria. With a larger trailer and possibly kids on the far end I would probably be on high alert all the time; but then again I'm the "mother hen", worrying type.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/boat-where-34-died-was-a-fire-trap-despite-passing-inspections-experts-say-its-far-from-alone/ar-AAGX898?ocid=spartanntp

[bobbecky]

One of the big fire causes in these RV's has been the absorption refrigerators that use highly flammable ammonia in the cooling unit and if operated off level, are prone to failure and commonly can start leaking ammonia which can ignite when exposed to the heat source that drives the cooling system. Several years ago, after reading about this problem after having two cooling units replaced, the second one had a leak, I purchased and installed an ARP device and our cooling unit replacement merry-go-round has stopped and our fridge works better than when new. I do not work for this company and have no financial connection with them, but do appreciate a quality product that works. https://www.arprv.com/

[Customer1]

We are alert to fire risk.

*We installed two fire extinguishers in the truck
*We added extra fire extinguishers in trailer
*I installed the ARP system on our refrigerator
*We bought a trailer with two doors
*Cash and important papers are in a water/fire proof safe

Be aware and think thru what you can do to be safer.

[ADQ K9]

I never realized that a refrigerator boiler could overheat and cause a fire. I know that there is an ignition source but not much more than that.
On the subject of fire extinguishers, I would recommend additional ABC type extinguishers in addition to what is supplied with the RV Min 5# in the bedroom and kitchen and at least a 10# in the cargo area of a toy hauler.
Keep in mind that the small extinguishers do not last long at all and if you are using it you might just be buying time to escape the immediate danger.