Brock Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I saw this post on the Caravan Club forum this morning. I've edited out a paragraph that was a personal observation by the poster. "Thank God for Caravan Club fire safety guidelines. Thanks to those guidelines only one motorhome was destroyed by fire early this morning. Two others were damaged by the heat, and a car was also damaged but thankfully no-one was hurt. From when my wife woke me, just as it had started to when the fire brigade got here 10 minutes later the motorhome was already destroyed. They were leftwith nothing, not even clothes. This happened on Broadway caravan site. All the wardens were out of bed in double quick time within seconds of the alarm being raised and dealt with it in a very professional manner." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 http://eveshamobserver.co.uk/news/fire-crews-put-motorhome-blaze/ Nothing new in the report except the fire started around 4.30am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clunegapyears Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 One of our friends recently lost his motorhome on the road in Scotland. He carried a small extinguisher but it was no where near man enough for the engine inferno. He stopped another motorhomer, who amazingly did not own an extinguisher. We promptly went out and bought a 2nd extinguisher and carry a fire blanket. Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detector regularly checked. It is just not worth the risk of loosing your van and all its contents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandncaravan Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Before we stopped doing Motorhome mechanical servicing we were seeing vehicles where it was becoming quite common to find Diesel Fuel leaks under the Hood. Usually, but not always related to the Fuel Filter assembly. One Peugeot had pools of Diesel on top of the engine from leaks following work on the pipes to the Injectors by a main Dealer. We posted a few months ago that we thought this might lead to more fires while travelling and the importance of checking and resolving any leaks quickly. While Diesel fuel doesn't ignite readily, a Hot exhaust/Cat/DPF/Turbo can run at temperatures far in excess of the Flash point of Diesel. It is not just that leaks are becoming more common, but the apparatus to ignite that fuel is now standard on all modern Motorhomes. 15 years ago a high temperature Cat and DPF were rare. Obviously we don't know the reason for this fire under the bonnet on the vehicle in Scotland, but carrying a good Fire extinguisher or two might be a good idea when the risks, and apparent incidents, are on the increase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clunegapyears Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Scottish Motorhome fire was,I believe, electrical in the engine. Everything lost in 15 mins as it took the fire brigade over half an hour to get to his remote location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 aandncaravan - 2016-08-12 10:15 PM Obviously we don't know the reason for this fire under the bonnet on the vehicle in Scotland, but carrying a good Fire extinguisher or two might be a good idea when the risks, and apparent incidents, are on the increase? Yes, as long as you use it through the grille and don't open the bonnet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Muswell - 2016-08-12 10:30 PM aandncaravan - 2016-08-12 10:15 PM Obviously we don't know the reason for this fire under the bonnet on the vehicle in Scotland, but carrying a good Fire extinguisher or two might be a good idea when the risks, and apparent incidents, are on the increase? Yes, as long as you use it through the grille and don't open the bonnet! Hows that going to work? :-S ..........If I tried that I'd just cover the rad in foam :-S .......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 pelmetman - 2016-08-13 9:02 AM Muswell - 2016-08-12 10:30 PM aandncaravan - 2016-08-12 10:15 PM Obviously we don't know the reason for this fire under the bonnet on the vehicle in Scotland, but carrying a good Fire extinguisher or two might be a good idea when the risks, and apparent incidents, are on the increase? Yes, as long as you use it through the grille and don't open the bonnet! Hows that going to work? :-S ..........If I tried that I'd just cover the rad in foam :-S .......... Or open the bonnet just a bit http://www.fireservice.co.uk/safety/car-fires Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malo37 Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Brock - 2016-08-08 9:55 AM I saw this post on the Caravan Club forum this morning. I've edited out a paragraph that was a personal observation by the poster. "Thank God for Caravan Club fire safety guidelines. Thanks to those guidelines only one motorhome was destroyed by fire early this morning. Two others were damaged by the heat, and a car was also damaged but thankfully no-one was hurt. From when my wife woke me, just as it had started to when the fire brigade got here 10 minutes later the motorhome was already destroyed. They were leftwith nothing, not even clothes. This happened on Broadway caravan site. All the wardens were out of bed in double quick time within seconds of the alarm being raised and dealt with it in a very professional manner." Interested to know how exactly the CC fire safety guidelines helped ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 It makes you think about the consequences of a fire on a French Aire, when the MHs are parked side by side, one metre apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Caravan Club follow the guidance given by Fire Brigades which fall out of the Fire Order Regulations. Failure to comply with the regulations can result in the fire certificate being withdrawn. The CC wardens come in for quite a bit of stick when enforcing the required gap between 'vans pitched on sites which is designed to reduce the spread of fire. Of course, all sites are caught by the same regulations so it's not so much the "CC fire safety regulations" than the way it complies. Friday saw 80 cars destroyed in a car park at a festival. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/boomtown-festival-fire-destroys-80-cars-car-park-blaze_uk_57aeefd5e4b0f475601c0d3d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malo37 Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 As I suspected then. The Caravan Club seems to be claiming credit for complying with the law. Seems a bit disingenuous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 We came upon a crashed car that was on fire with two occupants trapped inside. Lucky for them we were on the way to a race meeting and had two full size fire extinguishers in the boot. Several lorry drivers quickly followed up with their extinguishers and crow bars to get a door open. Both occupants were O.K.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 The Caravan Club lay out their sites to pack as many pitches as they can into the available space while observing the letter of the spacing rules, which is why they have to make people pitch "on to the peg". Even a relatively small displacement from the peg can be enough to compromise the minimum space between camping units. There is supposed to be a minimum of 6 metres between habitable units, to provide an adequate fire gap and along a row where pitches are side by side this is always strictly applied by CC. Where the spacing practice on CC Sites breaks down however is when rows of pitches are back to back, when pitches will sometimes allow for less than 6 metres diagonally between camping units. Furthermore CC doesn't count awnings as part of the habitable unit for spacing purposes and cars (which are combustable, perhaps even inflammable objects) are often parked within the 6 metre spaces. I don't think CC's spacing policy is safe enough. The recent example in which a burning motorhome caused a nearby car to start burning and heat damage was caused to an adjacent caravan illustrates this very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted August 15, 2016 Author Share Posted August 15, 2016 Malo37, the CC has not claimed credit. My original post copied what someone staying at the site at the time of the fire said on the CC forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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