Fire Extinguishers

[pilotpip]

Cheap insurance!

Also a great reminder of why I never drive with flip flops or barefoot. Roadsides aren't a good place to be without shoes.

[jeffdawgfan]

Another consideration is training. You can have a dozen fire extinguishers in your RV but if you or your wife cannot use them in the dark then they are useless. Having multiple types or manufacturers just makes it worse. You have to have training (or practice) to make any emergency equipment worth its weight. I have worked in places where even though people are given annual training on fire fighting devices they could not operate them if they had too. I think back on my qualification on submarines. We were blindfolded and had to be able to find our way through the sub to various damage control items without being able to see. This was training for the event where power is lost and all hell is breaking loose. Damage control had to be second nature. Throwing a half dozen fire extinguishers in your RV may give you peace of mind but is worthless if you or your wife does not know how to use them. They try to make them idiot proof....but the zombies will overcome......

Not trashing or point fingers at anyone. Just saying you need to use the same type and actually practice with what you have. Have your wife put out the campfire with the type you carry....at least annually or every six months is better.

[tedzz9]

P - Pull Pin
A - Aim
S - Squeeze Handle
S - Sweep Side to Side

[colo native]

I am a retired Firefighter and I can tell you that there is a pretty good chance those fire extinguishers won't work due to being on the road and getting packed down. Personally I would just get out and call 911 because these RV's go up fast. Maybe keep your valuables close like in the truck and hope you can get them out but it not worth dying for.

[ChadandMel]

I am a retired Firefighter and I can tell you that there is a pretty good chance those fire extinguishers won't work due to being on the road and getting packed down. Personally I would just get out and call 911 because these RV's go up fast. Maybe keep your valuables close like in the truck and hope you can get them out but it not worth dying for.

Agreed. That’s what insurance is for.


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[Cate&Rob]

No question that the primary plan is to get out. But, if the fire is between the bedroom and the RV door (where the electrical panel is in most trailers, for instance) are you going to have something at hand to knock this back for a few seconds while you get out the door . . . or are you going to use the emergency exit window in the bedroom? Jim’s presentation shows how feasible the window exit will be for most of us.

Rob

[offtohavasu]

You have to act fast, but give it a quick bump of the bottom on the ground (preferably something hard) and give it a good shake upside down before PASS. As long as it is serviced annually, it should break things up enough.

[J&G garage]

No question that the primary plan is to get out. But, if the fire is between the bedroom and the RV door (where the electrical panel is in most trailers, for instance) are you going to have something at hand to knock this back for a few seconds while you get out the door . . . or are you going to use the emergency exit window in the bedroom? Jim’s presentation shows how feasible the window exit will be for most of us.

Rob

Rob, you beat me to it. You gotta get out to collect the insurance. I would also add that you should get your extinguishers serviced once a year. And if the only extinguisher you have on board is that little white thing that came with the trailer get on down to the store and get one that's at least 5#.

[Steven@147]

There was a recall a while back on extinguishers, when I went through ours to see if they were on the recall list I upgraded all of ours to bigger extinguishers. In the RV the one by the door got bigger, and one in the kitchen and bedroom. Put a large one in the front storage compartment. Carry one in the truck as well.

Tami and I went through the Bastrop Texas wildfires, we got evacuated 3 times because of reburns. One of the fires started 50 yards behind our house, lucky the wind was blowing away from us. A next door neighbors house burnt in that fire and he is an avid sport shooter and reloads his own ammunition, rounds were cooking off for over 30 minutes they said. A few months later I was picking bullets out of our rain gutters. Its been many years ago now but it taught us a lesson we will never forget. A go bag is an excellent idea. Ours includes videos of house & shop contents on memory sticks for use in insurance claims.

Since it hit 110 yesterday and its very dry, we went through a mock up escape from our house with the Imagine and either of our two trucks. We can minimal hitch in under 3 minutes if the slides are in. 4 if they are out, if you have that much time.

Many of our friends lived in their RVs for over a year while their new house was being built.

[jeffdawgfan]

P - Pull Pin
A - Aim
S - Squeeze Handle
S - Sweep Side to Side

ROFL....I work in hospitals now. All staff is required to have fire extinguisher training annually. This is usually simulated or a video. The few times staff have actually been asked to demonstrate this simple procedure it is usually a fail. This is in a controlled environment. I have no doubts my wife could not use a fire extinguisher in a dark smoky camper when she is panicking to get out the door. I am just being realistic. I have two extinguishers in our RV and one in the forward storage compartment. I also have one in the truck which I have used at least a half dozen times (and replaced) when I have come upon the scene of a accident with fire or a small fire from other sources. I had years of formal fire fighting training....most of the populace has not. Just like the Duck boat tragedy the other day. There were life jackets for all those people...how many actually had a chance or knew how to put them on. The equipment is only as good as the training the users get.