sad accident

[manana]

Please remove if this is inappropriate here, i just wanted to draw attention to how important it is to have things done right.

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-...er-death-of-froggy-one-of-metros-van-dwellers

 

[Wabbit]

"A man was found dead inside a camper van (beige, far right) that had caught on fire due to an electrical system short in Surrey on February 25, 2017. The van was parked in the 10500-block of Scott Road. The man was a 55-year-old resident of Surrey and had been sleeping inside the van."

Worth the read, sadness but also some kindness.

 

[cyndi]

Wabbit, thanks for adding the description.

per forum guidelines, when posting a link to anything a brief description is required. Many of our members, myself included, have limited data and/or budgets. A brief description of the posted link will help them conserve data.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Very sad.  Some things still not clear to me.  He was using shore power via extension cords to heat the van electrically while parked in the recycling yard.  Then he moved down the street.  Did he have shore power there?  Was the problem with ac electric, or with the van's dc system?  A properly fused dc system should not be able to start a fire - the fuses should blow before the wire gets that hot.  With ac, a thin extension cord pulling too much power, could overheat before the circuit breaker blew, especially if it was a 20 amp outlet and nothing else on that circuit was drawing power at the time.

And of course, probably no smoke alarm.

Lessons:  Properly thick wires,  Right sized fuses on EVERY circuit.  And of course, a good smoke alarm.

 

[blars]

While properly sized (and working) fuses make fires less likely, they do not make them impossible. Cigarette lighter sockets can fail and cause enough heat to start a fire without exceeding the fuse current.

 

[IGBT]

Arc faults can start fires and not blow breakers because the current is still within normal range.  Think about how hot a arc welder gets, then realize sometimes it is only 20 or 30 amps.

My Magnum inverter and Midnite solar charger are supposed to have arc fault detection circuitry but I have never tested it.   We  have two smoke detectors and two CO detectors along with one propane detector.   Cheap insurance.

 

[Gary68]

a lot of ifs,if he had cardboard,denim insulation it wouldnt take much to ignite

as an expert in setting vehicles aflame.it happens quick,water hose wont cut it a fire extinguisher is a must

 

[Mobilesport]

I find it strange that the fire didn't 
wake him up , I'm thinking his doors were
blocked or he couldn't find the locks to
get out in time.

 

[INTJohn]

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/...-Burned-After-Mobile-Home-Fire-249640931.html

Something similar occured in the park I stayed at in Panama City Beach few years back. Man died in this fire of his parents trailer. He was parapeligic and was unable to get out. Both his parents received serious burns & were medivaced out and the Father died several days later. This fire was started by a charger device that had been placed under a mattress if I recall - an area where it didn't receive proper ventilation and the heat ignited the material tha was against it. (my photo)

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I find it strange that the fire didn't 
wake him up , I'm thinking his doors were
blocked or he couldn't find the locks to
get out in time.

Sounds like he was passed out cold from drinking.  It takes very little time for smoke to kill you, he may have been dead from smoke before the fire could wake him.

 

[Wabbit]

Sounds like he was passed out cold from drinking.  It takes very little time for smoke to kill you, he may have been dead from smoke before the fire could wake him.

Wut? I didn't read that anywhere in that article. Said he had pneumonia and was in hospital and left. Also said he was keeping an eye on things at night for a business in exchange to park there. Looked in the comments section and saw a disturbing comment, but nothing about being passed out.

 

[WalkaboutTed]

a lot of ifs,if he had cardboard,denim insulation it wouldnt take much to ignite

as an expert in setting vehicles aflame.it happens quick,water hose wont cut it a fire extinguisher is a must

Denim insulation gets a bad rap:

UltraTouch™ Denim Insulation

"UltraTouch is also a Class-A Building Product and meets the highest ASTM testing standards for fire and smoke ratings, fungi resistance and corrosiveness"

If it were so flammable, do you think it would be acceptable to powers that be?
Ted