Re: RC: [Fwd: Trailer fire!]

[Jim Holland <lanconn@tds.net>]

Cliff...

It is VERY important that you carry a fire extinguisher in your tow
vehicle.  I learned this a long time ago towing boats.  Brakes can cause
this problem, also.  This is right up there with wearing a helmet!

A fire extinguisher can save your trailer, your truck, and most
importantly, your horse! I have stopped and put out a fire in someone
else's trailer!

I know lots of people do it, but I would NEVER haul my horse with
shavings on the floor of my trailer.  The rationale is that it absorbs
the pee and/or makes the floor less slippery.  If you have good rubber
mats, this is ridiculous, unless you drive like maniac! I take my horse
off every 3-4 hours anyway, and they NEVER pee in the trailer.

Scary...glad it turned out well for you.

Jim, Sun of Dimanche, and Mahada Magic

Cliff Fenneman wrote:
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Trailer fire!
>    Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 15:51:33 -0700
>    From: Cliff Fenneman <cfly@concentric.net>
>      To: Ridecamp <ridecamp@endurance.net>
> 
> I had a fire in my trailer! Yikes! As I was trailering my new mule home
> in the dark from a Pat Parelli all mule clinic...a car came along side
> me honking and gesturing frantically...indicating that I should pull
> over immediately. I did. Barely off the freeway somewhere in Riverside,
> I found glowing embers under Chelse (I wondered why she had been moving
> around so much!) I had water bottles available and was able to put the
> fire out without removing her. She was great...just moved aside and let
> me splash water all around her feet. When the fire was extinguished we
> looked for the possible cause...and noticed dangling wires
> underneath...that no doubt the dog had chewed. They were touching the
> ground so I figured they must have been causing sparks that shot up thru
> the floorboards, thru space between the rubber mats and up into the
> shavings. So I crawled under the trailer with my handy duct tape and
> taped them to the axel...thinking all the time that this is ho
> w people
> die...under their trailer on the freeway in the dark.
> We drove on with no more trouble. I did have brakes and outside lights.
> I have an open stock trailer and had a minimum of cedarrest shavings on
> the floor. No one had been smoking in the trailer and we had spent at
> least 30 minutes standing around the outside of the trailer before
> leaving (pleading with her to get into the darkened trailer)...so the
> fire definitely had to start after we left. My trailer mechanic does not
> think the dangling wires caused the problem...most likely a tossed
> cigarette butt !
> Has this ever happened to anyone before? I never heard of such a story.
> My mechanic also told me he has seen customers bring their trailers
> in...improperly hooked up. Just last week or so their was a terrible
> accident on the freeway...trailer came un-hitched and both horses had to
> be put down....it was improperly hitched.
> Just thought I'd pass this along.
> Check and re-check your hitch everytime you leave
> it.
> If your animules start moving around...find out why.
> Lynda

-- 
Richard T. "Jim" Holland
Three Creeks Farm
175 Hells Hollow Drive
Blue Ridge, GA 30513
(706) 258-2830
FAX (706) 632-1271