Fire destroys neighbor's RV and damages the one next door

[bertschb]

A couple weeks ago a fire destroyed the RV across the street from us and heavily damaged the 5th wheel next door to it. Nobody was in either rig at the time of the fire. Both of these people are friends of ours. Very sad. One will obviously be replaced. The other is likely totaled. They are working with the manufacturer to get an estimate for repairs. The side is heavily damaged. Windows blown out. Air conditioner housings melted. Roof membrane damaged.

[That 1 Ron]

That sucks but at least nobody got hurt. What caused the fire? I've seen a few burn and it has me a little nervous about it, especially since I park mine about 5' from my house.

[bertschb]

What caused the fire?

I haven't heard an official cause for the fire but this is the second RV that has burned in our park in the last 2-3 years. If I had to guess - RV fridge. The older ones used Hydrogen. I think newer RV fridges use Helium. Others who know what they are talking about can correct me :-)

[That 1 Ron]

Interesting. I just googled this topic and I had no idea that RV fridges were a leading cause of RV/boat fires. So is the fridge in my 2400BH safe? I see there was a lawsuit against Dometic for faulty, fire-prone fridges. I always figured that a wiring short and/or propane leak were the main issues that cause fires (they are main causes) but never gave much thought on the fridge.

[SolarPoweredRV]

Interesting. I just googled this topic and I had no idea that RV fridges were a leading cause of RV/boat fires. So is the fridge in my 2400BH safe? I see there was a lawsuit against Dometic for faulty, fire-prone fridges. I always figured that a wiring short and/or propane leak were the main issues that cause fires (they are main causes) but never gave much thought on the fridge.

Back in the mid 2000's, Dometic had a recall on their refrigerators because of a fire issue. The problem had nothing to do with the gases used as coolant inside the fridge, the problem was the chimney that contains the electric and propane heaters was not properly shielded and the area surrounding the "Fire Box" caught on fire.

Dometic fixed the issue by installing extra metal shielding around the chimney to protect the surrounding materials.

The cause of this fire may never be determined, due to the total destruction of the coach. There is also a good chance this was not caused by the Propane portion of the fridge, because, based on appearance, this is a seasonal stay park and chances are pretty good that if they had an RV fridge (and not a residential style fridge) they would have been running the fridge in Electric mode.

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What was the distance between the two trailers?

[Wicked ace]

I haven't heard an official cause for the fire but this is the second RV that has burned in our park in the last 2-3 years. If I had to guess - RV fridge. The older ones used Hydrogen. I think newer RV fridges use Helium. Others who know what they are talking about can correct me :-)

There is no hydrogen or helium used in an RV 'fridge or any refrigerator for that matter. In an absorption refrigerator ammonia and sodium chromite are the coolant. A byproduct of the cooling process is hydrogen it is an offgas that is recombined with the coolant. It is wholly self contained in the drain back process and recombines with the liquid as it drains to the collector. While it may be the case that absorption refrigerators are the leading source of RV fires there is no indication that is the case in the OP's original post. For all we know it could be an electrical fire, a generator or a misplaced gas can.
To be honest some of the things I have found in my electrical system gave me pause and I went through as best I could to fix the obvious problems. Things I would be concerned about though are screws puncturing wire insulation and lack of friction sleeves in possible wear spots. Both could lead to shorting and wires heating up.

EDIT... I thought I knew how these things worked. A little research has taught me that hydrogen or in the case of Atwood helium is used to pressure the coils and prevent the ammonia from boiling.

[Canyonlight]

There is no hydrogen or helium used in an RV 'fridge or any refrigerator for that matter. In an absorption refrigerator ammonia and sodium chromite are the coolant. While it may be the case that absorption refrigerators are the leading source of RV fires there is no indication that is the case in the OP's original post. For all we know it could be an electrical fire, a generator or a misplaced gas can.
To be honest some of the things I have found in my electrical system gave me pause and I went through as best I could to fix the obvious problems. Things I would be concerned about though are screws puncturing wire insulation and lack of friction sleeves in possible wear spots. Both could lead to shorting and wires heating up.

Atwood manufactured a Helium RV fridge which was used in early GDRV Reflections. Ours has the 8 cubic foot size one and it works very well. I trust it uses helium in some way ?

Dan

[Canyonlight]

A couple weeks ago a fire destroyed the RV across the street from us and heavily damaged the 5th wheel next door to it. Nobody was in either rig at the time of the fire. Both of these people are friends of ours. Very sad. One will obviously be replaced. The other is likely totaled. They are working with the manufacturer to get an estimate for repairs. The side is heavily damaged. Windows blown out. Air conditioner housings melted. Roof membrane damaged.

Wow, Brian - that is a little unnerving hitting close to home. Hopefully they will be able to identify the cause.

Dan

[Wicked ace]

Atwood manufactured a Helium RV fridge which was used in early GDRV Reflections. Ours has the 8 cubic foot size one and it works very well. I trust it uses helium in some way ?

Dan

Apparently and because I took the time to look it up you are correct. Thank you for pointing it out, I didn't know. I think it is a better idea although helium is a known finite resource. Also now that Dometic owns Atwood and I see they are still offered, it's future may be in question.