Be Safe This Winter

[sassypickins]

Last night here in Portland a man lost his motorhome to a fire. From the news article, "The man stated to officials that he woke up to his blanket on fire after it touched the heater and started smoldering. He tried to smother the fire with bedding but failed, so he grabbed his dog and got out."

Sometimes it seems so obvious what to do or not to do, but reminders can be helpful even so. With cold weather coming on, will you share your winter safety measures?

 

[WheelEstate USA]

One thing that helps is keeping a neat rig....that is, loose clothing picked up, as well as loose papers, etc.
A heater needs to be placed where there is no chance of over-heating any surface or item....including bedding.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

I try to keep mine away from stuff especially the bed. Little worried about this new rig tho because the previous owner went for the 'shaggin wagon' look and covered everything with carpet. Does insulate well but makes me nervous.

I keep a military style wool 'fire blanket' next to my bed for escape measures.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

He tried to smother the fire with bedding but failed,

The obvious take away here is that he should have had a GOOD fire extinguisher next to his bed.

I recommend Mac the Fire Guy as the best resource for this stuff.

Regards
John

 

[pseudo_mccoy]

Mac McCoy. Good name.
These single use fire extinguishers are nice to have. I keep one up front and one in back.

 

[highdesertranger]

since we are on the subject of fire extinguishers. the ones with plastic heads/valves are non refillable. once you use them or they expire you throw them out. throw away stuff is not very eco friendly. remember reduce, reuse, recycle. highdesertranger

 

[pseudo_mccoy]

But...but... fire is also not eco-friendly. Since you get two disposable extinguishers for the price of a single reusable one, you're twice as likely to put out a fire. Therefore, disposable extinguishers are 2x more eco-friendly than the reusable types.

 

[pseudo_mccoy]

Highdesertranger, this is too weird. In the ten minutes or so that it took me to write my comment about the fire extinguishers, you slipped yours ahead of me. Check out the screen shot:

View attachment 1755

From my point of view, you can see how it looks like you were calling me out for hating on the environment. So please, excuse my silly logic. I'm really floored by the timing. What are the chances?

---

[update]...Read the timestamps wrong (saw the 1 as a 7). Turns out you really were calling me out for hating the environment : (

 

[concretebox]

Most people should know this but here's a few tips for fires:

Grease Fires: If it's in a pan, turn off the heat and cover with a metal/glass lid. No lid? Douse with baking powder, <b>never use water to extinguish a grease fire!</b>

Smoke detectors: Test them twice a year and replace the batteries anytime you change your clocks.

Fires consume oxygen, so in a small space like a van, even after you get the fire out, it's a good idea to get open the windows and get outside the van for a few minutes.

Never use a cooking device to heat your van, it produces deadly, odorless, colorless CO gas.

There's a great debate regarding propane heaters vs. electric blankets. Stories like this confirm my fears about space heaters, but others say electric blankets can cause burns, even start fires. In either case, practice common sense: don't modify electric blankets, if they are damaged, replace them. Don't put any flammable materials near a space heater. Check the specs on your space heater, does it require venting? If if it says it doesn't, install a CO detector just in case.

When doing the electrical wiring in your build-out, don't skip the fuses/circuit breakers. Install them in the positive lead of any electrical device (such as solar panels) or better yet, build a fuse box. Here's Bob's blog post on installing a fuse box: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/installing-12-volt-fuse-block/

 

[LeeRevell]

Grease Fires: If it's in a pan, turn off the heat and cover with a metal/glass lid. No lid? Douse with baking powder, <b>never use water to extinguish a grease fire!</b>

Not true. Twice I have used a fine water mist/spray to put out cooking grease fires. A SOLID STREAM is dangerous, but the mist spray does actually work. I did this during fire training class at work too, and the Fire Marshall confirmed it to be a workable method.
But it can get messy, so I would try to avoid doing it in a van. It also takes a LOT of water, as you are essentially bringing down the temperature of the burning oil. But AVOID spraying down INTO the oil. That will spread it.
In a van though a CO2 or dry chemical extinguisher may be better, but in my case at home I went through two home type extinguishers and the fire continued. The water finally knocked it out. Dry chemical doesn't reduce the temperature. We also had no lid handy for the pot.

In fighting a fire, it requires at least one of three things:
1) Remove the fuel
2) Remove the oxygen
3) Cool the fuel below ignition temp.

 

[offroad]

The smoke damage after the fire is out might be a lot more involved than you realize. That smoke can get some nasty poison chemical residue. Stop that fire and GTFO fast. Talk to your nearest fire station folks. Get some RV INSURANCE or something if you can afford it.

 

[akrvbob]

Some safety rules you can break, some you should never break. I pretty routinely break them.

For over 13 years I've heated my camper with a cooking appliance--including 6 years in Anchorage, AK. Now that's all I use.

BUT!!!!! I have magical powers over Coleman stoves, so none of you should try it!!!!!!!!
Bob

 

[highdesertranger]

McCoy I wasn't talking smack or anything like that and it wasn't directed at you. I was just pointing out one is reusable and one is not. highdesertranger

 

[Lucky mike]

HHHmmmmmm........did you ever see the cost of filling a reusable extinguisher......its cheaper to throw it in the trash and buy a disposable !!!!...................defeats the purpose!!

 

[highdesertranger]

don't know where you get yours refilled but I get mine refilled pretty cheap. what I like to do is find a business that's due to have their extinguishers serviced and put mine in with theirs. for a service it's like 5 bucks for a refill 15 bucks. highdesertranger

 

[pseudo_mccoy]

Highdesertranger, it's cool. I don't plan on fighting enough fires to make much of an environmental impact either way, but I still get what you're saying.

All the same, I prefer having two, lightweight and easily accessible fire extinguishers in place of a larger, heavier one. I consider the ecological damage that my bottles will cause to be acceptable.

 

[Seraphim]

One thing I believe in is creating a routine for everything, which I think also helps n safety practices. When you're not using something, pack it away so it's not cluttering up the place - especially around a heater. Not is the object blocking an exit, or giving you something to trip over. Not is it covering/hiding your fire extinguisher. Routine also keeps one from sloppy about safety, like falling asleep with a burner on. I think a lot of accidents happen because people get sloppy, or on a hurry, or just careless. A developed routine helps prevent those conditions.

 

[anm]

Not true. Twice I have used a fine water mist/spray to put out cooking grease fires. A SOLID STREAM is dangerous, but the mist spray does actually work. I did this during fire training class at work too, and the Fire Marshall confirmed it to be a workable method.
But it can get messy, so I would try to avoid doing it in a van. It also takes a LOT of water, as you are essentially bringing down the temperature of the burning oil. But AVOID spraying down INTO the oil. That will spread it.
In a van though a CO2 or dry chemical extinguisher may be better, but in my case at home I went through two home type extinguishers and the fire continued. The water finally knocked it out. Dry chemical doesn't reduce the temperature. We also had no lid handy for the pot.

In fighting a fire, it requires at least one of three things:
1) Remove the fuel
2) Remove the oxygen
3) Cool the fuel below ignition temp.

That may be, but I would not try to douse a cooking oil fire with water even a mist, better to smother it. I would want to get a cooking fire in my van out as quickly as possible. Another option is a fire-blanket and if I did any cooking in oil, I would have one.

 

[LeeRevell]

At the time it was the best option we had. Flames were touching the ceiling....... and it was outside on the patio.

 

[ccbreder]

All fire extinguishers have an expiration date. DO NOT use water on a grease fire unless you are a fireman with a fire truck.