we've read about two different travel families that lost their rvs to fire in the past few
weeks now this is personally very scary to see and it could happen to any one of you
or us so we wanted to talk about rvs fires and why you must do three things today to keep you
and your family safe while out on the road welcome to the channel if you're checking us out here on
youtube for the first time and if you're a regular viewer well welcome back and thanks for joining us
for another video we've run across some news in the rv community over the last few weeks about
two different families that lost their homes to fires now these homes were different from what you
might consider a traditional home since these were full-time families one was a 2021 heartland toy
haul or fifth wheel and in the other case it was a city bus conversion that the family was currently
remodeling to be their tiny home on wheels in the situation with the toy hauler while the exact
cause of the fire is uncertain the fire did start in the rear of the fifth wheel and the family
didn't even know it was on fire until it was much too late in the situation of the family with the
bus conversion there was an explosion resulting in the fire in both situations these families
were full-time travel families which means they lost everything including their homes now we've
personally donated to both of the fundraisers set up for these families and we'll have links in the
description below for their fundraisers for you to consider donating as well one of the things we've
seen in the rv community over and over is how well you all support one another well here is a chance
to do just that and show your support for fellow rv families who find themselves in a time of need
with rving van life bus life and over landing becoming more popular there are more people on the
road than ever before and many people do not have adequate fire protection when it comes to their rv
or understand the risks that are inherent with rvs so before we get into the three things you need
to do today to protect yourself in the event of a fire we wanted to take a moment to make you aware
of why fire hazards exist in rvs more so than a traditional styx and bricks home on average there
are approximately 4 000 rv fires per year and it's reported that the number two cause of a fire
is the rv refrigerator now i'll tell you the number one cause in just a minute but most rv
refrigerators run off of electrical and propane this means there's an open flame for the propane
when the fridge is turned on in lp mode when you have no access to electricity now many people
run their rv fridges in propane mode while driving on a travel day to keep the fridge cool
we're not going to make a recommendation for or against this practice but we will tell you it can
be a fire hazard and we want to encourage you to educate yourself on the risks before deciding if
you do or don't want to leave your fridge in lp mode on travel days now a common fire cause is
something flammable like a wasp's nest or a spider nest that gets built in the backside of that
refrigerator area and then when the propane flame ignites it ignites that other nesting material and
causes a fire there are other things with these absorption style refrigerators that can cause
fires as well one thing can be when the rv is not level and the ammonia in the lines backs
up and overheats overheating of the fridge is a common cause of fridge fires there was
actually a lawsuit brought against the rv fridge manufactured dometic this lawsuit states that
every gas absorption refrigerator manufactured by dometic since 1997 shares common technology common
cooling unit design and common defects including the propensity of the refrigerator's cooling unit
boiler tube to corrode crack expel hydrogen gas at high pressure which can spontaneously combust
or reach other ignition sources causing a fire pretty scary stuff we even once called a mobile
rv tech for an issue we had with our fridge and they told us if it was a norcold with the recall
to install a high temperature sensor they wouldn't touch it even if the recall had been performed it
was just too much of a liability risk for them now a great idea to just improve efficiency of
your fridge is to install a fan on the side which just helps keep the fridge cool we'll have a link
to the description below to the fridge fan we installed on ours just last month and it
was a fairly easy install so of rv absorption fridges are the number two cause of rv fires
what's the number one cause of a fire in an rv well interestingly enough the number one cause
of fire is reported to be within the rv engine compartment often in the electrical system wiring
crimps that can short fuel lines exhaust leaks can all be potential fire hazards another potential
fire hazard can be an open flame on a propane stove while cooking things like cooking oils
bacon grease can be highly flammable and because rv kitchens are often small things like paper
towels dish towels and those types of things tend to be in close proximity to the stove if you
have an open flame with a propane stove this is a fire hazard we actually removed our propane stove
completely and installed an induction cooktop and we have a microwave convection oven combo
appliance is like an air fryer which is actually really a mini convection oven can also be
used for baking instead of a propane stove now batteries are another common cause of rv fires
batteries can give off hydrogen gas depending upon the battery type which is highly flammable
batteries need to be maintained and depending upon battery type will dictate the type of
maintenance you need to perform we've seen several reports of rv fires over the past few years that
were directly battery related okay what are the three things that you need to do today number one
check your propane areas for fire hazards such as wasps nests spider webs or anything else that
could be a potential fire hazard these would be areas like the back of your fridge where the water
heater propane flame goes just make sure you have no flammable items near the stove in the kitchen
area if you have a propane stove things like a bottle of cooking oil paper towels that tend to
be right near the stove paper plates these are all fuel sources for a fire clear these things
out clean out all of these areas where there is an open flame present with the propane system
number two invest in quality fire suppression have a larger fire extinguisher or multiple
extinguishers on hand we've actually heard from several people who have encountered an rv
fire that one of the smaller extinguishers that came with the rv was not enough we actually have
four yes four fire extinguishers also consider a fire suppression system like the protang
fire suppression system these fire suppression systems can be used in areas like battery
compartments near the fridge propane water heater areas basically anywhere a fire hazard exists
number three check the batteries in your rv smoke detector and check the year on your rv propane
leak detector batteries need to be replaced from time to time and if you're not a full-time rver
that means the batteries in your smoke detector are most likely subjected to more extreme
temperatures when your rv is not in use that is hot in the summer or cold in the winter with no
climate control being used the propane detectors in rvs all have an expiration date on the back of
the unit be sure to check this date and replace if your detector is more than seven years old now our
friends mark and julie bennett recently conducted a grand experiment about rvs and fires and i'll
put a link to their video below but after you've checked out this video check out their video for
more information as to why rvs go up so quickly if there is a fire plus some other great fire safety
tips and resources for our viewers if you found this video helpful in any way please hit that
subscribe button we put out content relating to the rv and travel lifestyle weekly and you don't
want to miss a single video we will also have more information about fire safety on our website at
gratefulglamper.com and the links for the products mentioned in this video will be in the blog
as well as in the description below please be safe out there my shirt's good everything here is good
no weird hairs in my face or anything okay it was just too much of a liability risk i can't talk
it was just i'm laughing as i'm saying it so if our so if so if rv absorption
you try saying this depending upon battery type
source of did you talk about the big fire extinguisher that's what i just said said
have a big one or have multiples okay were you listening number three no no he's not listening
husbands don't listen this is what husbands do they never listen
so of course he doesn't know what I just said even though he's behind the camera
with headphones on did he hear what i said no why would i expect anything different plane
the plane the plane plane the plane man is it dinner time yeah i'm getting hungry starving
you're not starving oh you are not starving this diet thing none of us are starving
stop that i know i can tell okay so be sure to check out mark and julie's video about rv fires
right up here and then right up here i'll put a playlist on fun places to travel and just about rv
travel in general you can follow us on Instagram over here where we've got some great short
videos you can watch and you can subscribe right down here so if we don't see you out
on the road at the campground or at the coming tampa super show we'll see you in the next video