kevina Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 The van next to us caught fire this morning as they were packing to leave early, sadly I think the couple lost two dogs. The aire was about half full so most vans had 15 to 20 feet between them, this is at Portiragnes Plage near Beziers, the motorhome is now completely burnt out. We heard them making some noise about 6.30 and calling for a dog which I thought must have wandered off, before they banged loudly on our van and I picked out the word "feu". Opened a blind and saw that their van was well ablaze; my wife moved the van, I emptied a fire extinguisher into the open cab door (where the owner was calling for a dog) but it did little more than knock it down for a few seconds. Everybody else also moved away and watched from a distance. When the coach built body was half destroyed the safety valve on one gas bottle started to blow off and 4 or 5 minutes later there was an explosion which shook everyone up but no "BLEVE" and no debris reached anyone. The second bottle blew off until empty but there wasn't much left by then except the chassis. Pompiers arrived 15 minutes later. There is a pretty sombre mood here, really feel for the couple. I'll post some photos tomorrow. In hindsight I don't think I heard a smoke alarm from their van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 kevina - 2021-11-10 7:03 AM I'll post some photos tomorrow. I don't think I heard a smoke alarm from their van. Must admit I took the battery out of mine because I was fed up of it going off whenever I burnt the food Sounds like the dogs were in there alone though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevina Posted November 10, 2021 Author Share Posted November 10, 2021 This was taken 5 minutes after we were alerted. I think the dogs must have run to the cab, when I jumped out with extinguisher both hab and cab doors were open and the flames were all internal, the photo was taken 2 or 3 minutes later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevina Posted November 10, 2021 Author Share Posted November 10, 2021 The debris after the van was towed. There was light rain overnight, you can see the burnt dry grass under where we were parked to the left and another van to the right. The gas bottle on the far left was moved there by the Pompiers and I think they also pulled out some of the other debris, eg gas locker. in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertslad Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 Makes you think Kevin, Also makes me wonder if the 2Kg powder extinguisher I have in the house (because we are a few miles from the retained fire station here in rural Lincs) would be much use, and when did I last check the smoke alarm? And ditto those in the van. Well done for trying Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 holy moly!! well done for trying, but even the fire brigade wouldn't be able to save that, at least everyone is okay, such a shame about the dogs though, any thoughts on how it started....maybe explosion? cos if the dogs could not get out it must have gone up in seconds? Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevina Posted November 10, 2021 Author Share Posted November 10, 2021 The only reason I had a go at the cab was because they were calling for a dog, I knew the 2kg powder extinguisher I had wasn't going to stop the fire. I did a lot of RN and MN firefighti g courses so knew the basics. I later saw a discarded 1kg extinguisher which must have been the owners. The van was doomed before I even saw it. Lessons learned. No one raised a proper alarm. If the owners had called for help earlier others might have been able to assist, in the event I don't think anyone else tried. We were first to respond because he banged on our van but when I looked out of the window the interior of their van was completely ablaze (I'd been awake for 10 minutes too). If you hear a commotion in the night take a look. My wife drove up to the other end of the aire but should have blasted the horn on the way. The couple in the van the other side didn't drive off to start with but then lost their dog at the first small explosion (in video, not a gas bottle) he came back 4 hours later. If it hadn't just rained the grass and hedge would have quickly spread it to maybe the length of the aire. The gas bottle that survived was bulging and distorted. First stop after leaving was Brico Depot for a replacement extinguisher Video: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 Albertslad - 2021-11-10 4:38 PM makes me wonder if the 2Kg powder extinguisher ..... would be much use Well it would if you were on it at once. Depends how long it took you to attack the fire Maybe we should all have a fire drill and see how long it takes us to get the fire extinguisher to the fire Big fires invariably begin as small fires. I woudn't say it to them but I'm wondering if the occupants were either not there, or too slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 John52 - 2021-11-10 5:29 PM Albertslad - 2021-11-10 4:38 PM makes me wonder if the 2Kg powder extinguisher ..... would be much use Well it would if you were on it at once. Depends how long it took you to attack the fire Maybe we should all have a fire drill and see how long it takes us to get the fire extinguisher to the fire Big fires invariably begin as small fires. I woudn't say it to them but I'm wondering if the occupants were either not there, or too slow. They cant have been in it surely. If a fire starts in your van you are going to know about it pretty quickly and would get out with your dogs but if for some reason you sleep through it your dead anyway I would have thought. Horrible thing to happen though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Barryd999 - 2021-11-10 6:13 PM John52 - 2021-11-10 5:29 PM Albertslad - 2021-11-10 4:38 PM makes me wonder if the 2Kg powder extinguisher ..... would be much use Well it would if you were on it at once. Depends how long it took you to attack the fire Maybe we should all have a fire drill and see how long it takes us to get the fire extinguisher to the fire Big fires invariably begin as small fires. I woudn't say it to them but I'm wondering if the occupants were either not there, or too slow. They cant have been in it surely. If a fire starts in your van you are going to know about it pretty quickly and would get out with your dogs but if for some reason you sleep through it your dead anyway I would have thought. Horrible thing to happen though. Thats what I thought. I can see them all falling over each other before they got the fire extinguisher on the job. Unless the dogs ran into the cab, wouldn't come back into the fire, and they couldn't get the cab doors open in time? On my van I can go out through the side or back door, but the cab doors will still be locked - with the key still in the van. I once spent ages searching for the van key before finding it underneath something on the table :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 Once a van catches fire it takes hold pretty quickly and that one was finished long before the fire service arrived. At least the couple came away without injury but not a pleasant experience for anyone. Only a few days ago i'd been watching various YT clips and dropped on a fire damaged RV being auctioned by a company specialising in damaged vehicles. They got it for £11,500 and drove it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 Just out of interest, are there any statistics to say what are the common causes of motorhome fires? Is it fuel or gas or electric or cooking or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 Don't know, but would imagine fat fires in kitchen, cigarettes on soft furnishings, and candles/tea lights near curtains. Other possibilities are undetected gas leaks and electrical overloads, but these should be extremely rare in properly maintained vehicles. Possibly DIY electrical mods. At that time of day, and in preparation for leaving site, possibly something left on a gas burner after breakfast? Too much brandy on the Crepes Suzettes? :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad J Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 This is all very scary. I think Brian's right about possible causes (except the crepes suzettes for breakfast). Confirms the need for regular habitation checks - I was astonished on a recent thread to find how many don't bother. Also to park a few meters apart on sites, perhaps especially overnight stops such as aires with little control on numbers. I've flagged up to get a second extinguisher come next Spring, as well as fire blanket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevina Posted November 12, 2021 Author Share Posted November 12, 2021 Forget the fire blanket, only for chip pan fires really. Watch a fire brigade video on how to use an extinguisher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 The reason I was asking was a personal safety thing. We hardly use gas - only for cooking. We always stay on sites with electric hook up - so heat is via low power fan heater. Never left on overnight. No electrics are left on if we are not in van other than fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 laimeduck - 2021-11-12 10:46 PM The reason I was asking was a personal safety thing. We hardly use gas - only for cooking. We always stay on sites with electric hook up - so heat is via low power fan heater. Never left on overnight. No electrics are left on if we are not in van other than fridge. to be honest, people treat their Mo Ho like a home and they are not like that at all, they need to be treated gently! like a woman (tongue firmly in cheek) jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 silverback - 2021-11-12 11:08 PM laimeduck - 2021-11-12 10:46 PM The reason I was asking was a personal safety thing. We hardly use gas - only for cooking. We always stay on sites with electric hook up - so heat is via low power fan heater. Never left on overnight. No electrics are left on if we are not in van other than fridge. to be honest, people treat their Mo Ho like a home and they are not like that at all, they need to be treated gently! like a woman (tongue firmly in cheek) jonathan I often wondered where you went Swiss Toni. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldi Posted November 14, 2021 Share Posted November 14, 2021 This posting is definitely a prompt to get a fire extinguisher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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