Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I have posted this story to rv.net, another group I am on, in reply to a thread 
about whether you can get your truck camper off in the event of a fire.  I am 
posting it here on ridecamp and equine-l as well because I know many of us tow 
our horses.  Some of us with a LQ trailer and some like myself with a 
bumperpull and a camper.  I hope it will help anyone out there.  It is very 
long if you aren't interested please delete.

I created a webshot with photos also, if interested click this link:

http://community.webshots.com/album/420777676QKDCyv 

Thanks!

Andrea

message below

*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have first hand input on this thread, unfortunately!  I have just returned
home from what I had hoped would be a nice weekend campout with my Fleetwood
Elkhorn cabover.  As I was traveling down the I-15 on my way to Norco
California I was honked and waved down from a passing motorist.  I roll down
my window expecting him to tell me I have a flat tire (I do have the Doran
Tire Pressure Monitoring System on my F-550 but still this what I expected
to hear).  Well, He says you are on fire!!  Not you have a flat tire.  So, I
pull over to the shoulder, oh I should also mention that I am pulling my
bumperpull horse trailer behind with my barrel horse because I was on my way
to a barrel race.  So, I get out expecting that the hay I have loaded on top
of the horse trailer somehow caught fire.  Nope, There were foot high flames
coming out of the window vent above the bathroom.  Well, I carry a fire
extinguisher in the horse trailer so I grab it and climb the ladder and
spray the contents over the flames.  It appears to go out and am shaking but
relieved.  I then check the backdoor of the camper for heat, feel none and
open it to check for more flames and to also get the extinguisher that is
located there by the door.  I grab it and the fire flames back up on the
roof.  At this point I am fairly sure that the source is the exhaust fan in
the bathroom.  I know it wasn't on because I had just filled up with diesel
about 60 miles back and used the facilities at that time.  So, I continue to
spray the contents of that extinguisher.  The first still can not be
contained.  Now I am in panic mode.  The first thing I am thinking is I have
got to get this camper away from the horse trailer and then hopefully off of
my truck.  I unhooked the horse trailer, I also have weight distribution
hitch on it so this takes what seems to me forever.  I the meantime the
camper is burning pretty good.  9-1-1 has been called and the fire truck is
on its way.  Ok, now I am disconnected from the horse trailer and feel
pretty good about the safety of my horse.  So now I start the process of
trying to unload the camper which even in ideal circumstances is not an easy
proposition as all the scrape marks on the inside of my truck bed will
attest too.  I grab the leveller blocks (my camper jacks won't raise high
enough to clear with out them) place them under the jacks, unhook the
tiedowns (I have the happi-jac quick ones, they also didn't seem very quick
at this time) raise the camper and start pulling forward.  Well, I was
panicked, would you be!?  And pulled forward too fast.  I caught the camper
on the truck pulled forward and have now ripped the front jacks almost
completely off of the camper!!!  I am seriously panicking now.  Some good
samaritans have stopped at this point and have extra fire extinguishers they
continue to try to keep the fire down until the fire truck arrives.  At this
point there is NO way to get the camper off of the truck.  So we are now out
of fire extinguishers but some has the semblance of mind to ask about water.
I carry three 25-35 gallon tanks on my horse trailer so we start filling
buckets and tossing them on the flames.  At this point the fire truck
arrives.  They pour 190 gallons of water and ax thru the sides, roof, doors,
etc. making sure they get the fire out.  It flamed up several times during
this ordeal.  I am shaking a little now as I type this.  It has only been a
few hours since this all happened.  I remember pulling off the road at
around 9pm last night and that was the start of this adventure.  OK, now the
fire is out and the firefighters have convinced me that they would feel safe
driving the camper away.  The Highway Patrolman at the site is talking about
flare-ups and trying to convince me that it could start back up again and if
I am enroute back home there is very little emergency coverage to try to put
it out again.  I feel like I am in the middle of a turf war or something
with each side questioning the others abilities.  But the fact is, there is
no easy way to get the camper off now that I have ripped the front jacks
off.  (I wish I had just raised it one more inch, sigh....)  Well, I decide
to go with the firefighters and start the log drive back home.  All went
well, no flare-ups and the camper is now sitting outside.  From leaving my
front door at 4pm to arriving back home at 4am I am still in shock.  No
living creatures were hurt in this experience but what a horrible, horrible
feeling.  I felt helpless and trapped there knowing I could not get that
fire stopped and also could not get the burning camper disconnected from my
truck.  I do believe I could have separated the two if I had stayed a little
calmer.  I did have enough time to do so but that also was just pure luck in
that the fire originated on the roof, was mainly contained in the bathroom
and was being controlled by water and fire extinguisher for some time.

I just want to end this saga with the little information I know about the
cause of the fire.  The fire investigator put in his report that is most
likely was caused by a short in the exhaust fan.  So my biggest questions
are:  How could I have prevented this?  How common is this?  And to all of
you also, what have you learned from this?  I learned so much.  The biggest
of which is just how dangerous fire is and that I really need to have better
plans of action.  Do you all have a place to meet with family members if
your house catches fire?  Do you have fire extinguisher placed in bedrooms,
kitchens, etc?  Do you know how to use them?  I won't go on here.  Sorry
this is so long.  I normally would go back and edit but this time I won't -
I think you can all better get a feel for my state of mind by leaving this
post like this.

PLEASE EVERYONE BE CAREFUL AND ALERT.  If those people hadn't waved me down
on the highway this could have had a very different ending.

Take care all!

Andrea

2000 F-550, Air Ride, Super Hitch
Fleetwood Elkhorn 11' (R.I.P.)
S&H 4 horse bumperpull



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