Fire in your RV is undoubtedly one of the scariest things we can dream up. We see plenty of RV fire stories, but here are two that really stick out:

(Claverack, NY) The Old Rat’s Nest Trick: Ah, spring, and the thoughts of RVers turn to the road. So must have thought Martha Rowle, who lives in an RV park outside of West Ghent. Martha fired up the old motorhome for the first time in the season, and headed out across the RV park.

Martha didn’t get far before she noticed smoke billowing out of the engine compartment. A quick check revealed various plastic engine parts melting merrily away, and soon the fire brigade was dispatched. Within 8 minutes of the fire call, the local fire company responded–too late to save the rig. After the flames were gone a thorough investigation revealed a rodent had found Martha’s engine compartment an irresistible place to build a nest and winter over. While no humans were injured in the blaze there was no word on the status of the hitchhiking rodent.

(Crook County, Oregon)–Methanol and Motorhomes Don’t Mix: Central Oregon firefighters were forced to close a portion of of Highway 126 recently to handle a potentially volatile situation. David Dahill and his wife, Belinda, from Prineville, Oregon discovered their motorhome was on fire. Bad enough to have an RV fire, but the Dahill rig was towing a utility trailer with 100 gallons of methanol. The volatile alcohol can be used as a fuel additive or an alternative fuel.

The quick thinking responders disconnected the trailer from the motorhome and doused the flames.

Photo: Michael McCagg on The Independent News 

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 2:37 pm and is filed under fire, general, safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.