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Post Info TOPIC: In case of Fire


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In case of Fire


Has anyone had to escape because of fire while in their RV?  Are there special ladders or anything else for the emergency windows?  I am partially disabled and it is a little scary thinking about getting out in time.



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I have never had a fire in my rv, but I realize what you are saying. In our travel trailer there is only one door. The good thing about it is that it is between us and the kitchen.

I could never fit through the window that is supposedly the fire exit, much less climb through it. We keep an extinguisher near the bed and always stay fire safety conscience, that is about all we know to do.  ............... Don

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Thanks for you responce. We are looking at 5th wheels and that sure is a big drop from that bedroom window! The same with motor homes. I am going to be looking to see if there are fire ladders or what ever for RVs but that would not help me much either since I can not get up and down a ladder. Well it is something to think about. Thanks again

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The recommendation is at least 5 fire extinguishers per rv. how many actually carry that many I do not know.  However, if need be I would certainly jump out a window that is for excaping fire and suffer any conquences. 
southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs


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You are right Judy, in an emergency not much could be worse than burning to death. We keep 2 extingushers in the rv and 2 outside and one in the truck.

The issue with a fire ladder is that an rv will burn so fast you will not have time to utilize it I doubt. Best thing to do is keep an extinguisher near where you are sleeping and always make sure you keep new batteries in your smoke alarm. A couple of them is never a bad idea and they are sensitive enough that they should give you ample warning. Always practice safe use of fire in an rv and you should be safe. Unfortunate things do happen but that is the way of life in general.

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Some of the folks in chat know about this as do Howard and Linda. I haven't posted about it for a lot of reasons, but it's something that I think is too important not to comment about.

If you should be so unfortunate as to have a fire in your RV GET OUT! Don't try to be a hero, no matter how many fire extinguishers you may have. We have all heard and read stories in the news about fires, but what you don't hear about is what happens afterwards to someone who is burned in a fire.

Last June 14th my beloved wife Robyn suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 50% of her body. The details aren't important, but suffice to say it was an accident that happened in the middle of the night. She has been hospitalized ever since.

I thank God that she was flown by helicopter to the Joseph M. Still Burn center in Augusta Georgia. If it weren't for the angels there she would not have survived.

What you don't hear about in the news is the aftermath. Robyn was immediately put on life support; her kidneys failed, which is very common for victims of large burns, so whe had to be put on dialysis; she had a great deal of swelling, which is also common. As a result of that, blood circulation to her large intestine was cut off, and most of her large colon died as a result and had to be removed. She now has in iliostomy, which may or may not be reversible, depending on whether or not there is enough of her colon left - that question hasn't been answered yet.

She has lost the four fingers on her right hand, down to the middle knuckle. She also inhaled super-heated air from the fire and had to be put on a ventilator attached to a trach to breathe for her.

She has had skin grafts which have all healed, but now she needs physical rehab to regain as much range of motion in her arms as possible.

I have just had the most blessed Thanksgiving of my life. I traveled to Augusta the day before Thanksgiving to spend the remainder of that day and as much of Thanksgiving day with her as I could. On the day before Thanksgiving, the doctors came in to remove the dialysis catheter because her kidney function had returned. Robyn is also now breathing room air on her own so the trach will soon be removed as well. After five months she can finally talk and communicate again.

Soon she will be transferred to a physical rehabilitation facility somewhere, and I hope and pray it is somewhere closer to home so that I can spend more time with her as she continues her recovery. During this whole ordeal I of course have had to continue to work to maintain our home, and not least our health insurance. It hasn't been easy. The burn center has told me about families who have lost everything because they couldn't find the strength to stay away.

All of this is intensely personal. I haven't expressed myself as well as I would like, but if nothing else I want to impress upon the whole RV Dreams family that this is something you do NOT want to experience for yourselves. It's far worse than anything you can possibly imagine, and it can happen far more quickly than you can possibly imagine.

I hope that all of you have had a Thanksgiving that has been a fraction as blessed as mine has been. Please take care of each other, and remember that nothing is worth the risk of going through something like this. 

God bless you all....

 


-- Edited by Tim & Robyn on Saturday 28th of November 2009 09:00:23 AM

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Tim & Robyn


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I am sorry to hear about Roybn and my prayers go out for her. You did not say if the fire was in your RV or in a house.
God Bless and take care.
southwestjudy


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Tim & Robyn we are so sorry to hear about your injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with you..

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The fire was in our home, and it only took a couple minutes for all this to happen. That's why I say get out as fast as you can if there is a fire, wherever you are... pets and people, forget the rest....

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Tim & Robyn


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Here's a Yahoo post of a fire in a brand spanking new $600,000 Essex motor home this past Thanksgiving morning . People ok , Essex gone. The speed of an RV (or any other structure) fire can not be under estimated. Just get out.
Pictures : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newmarowners/spnew
Post: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newmarowners/message/88897

Not to be frightening - these are worth the education - but here's some videos to show you the speed of an RV fire. Again, just get out. Note the time on these videos. Less than 4 minutes from start to totally engulfed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHvsn7LWSt0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSIXdLn4eys
http://capture.wboc.com/kickapps/_Motor-Home-RV-Fire/video/295738/41313.html?b=

Even faster flame speeds happen in a stix-n-brix especially with the upcoming holidays. This NIST video took way less than 1 minute. Just get out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPyrJbKJpIY



-- Edited by RVDude at 18:28, 2008-11-30

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Thank you for sharing your very personal story. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and Robyn during this long recovery.

Debbie & Rod

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Now that you have opened up and told about your experience you have not only probably saved someone from the heartache you have experienced but you have a lot of people praying for you and Robyn. Isn't this a great family !! God bless you and yours !
Brenda

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Tim, you have provided a great service by telling your story. We pray for a good outcome for Robyn and for the strength for both of you to manage this event. Your story will likely result in saving someone's life, but you will never know....

I can't tell everyone how important it is to have those fire extinguishers in your RV. NOT the one that is there when you buy it....some good modern extinguishers. We have a 5th wheel. We have one mid size one in the bedroom by the bed. One large one in the front of the W/D closet on the floor, ready to grab. A small foam one under the kitchen sink ready to grab for the stove. One Large one outside in the front of the storage compartment (that compartment is never locked in the campground). And one large foam extinguisher in the truck drivers compartment, and a small foam extinguisher next to the drivers seat in the truck. The small one in the truck is the only one I feel is not necessary.

In addition, we generally have a 50' water hose hooked up outside. But that is more for our convenience around the campsite, than for fire fighting, although in the right circumstances it could certainly be used for that. In general you are not going to be able to extinguish any RV fire that gets going. Just get out. 

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Fire is nothing to be trifled with... no matter how many fire extinguishers you have.

Today is one full year since my wife was burned in the middle of the night - sleep walking thanks to Ambien and accidentally setting her nightgown on fire, resulting in 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 50 percent of her body.

The consequences have been horrendous, and our RV dreams are pretty much dead as a result. My wife Robyn is STILL hospitalized 250 miles away in Augusta GA.

All her burns and skin grafts have healed, but she inhaled the hot gases from the fire, which compromised her lungs. And because of the burns she is more susceptible to infection, which is exactly what has happened.

She has been bedridden for so long that she suffered stress fractures of her hips in the area where the femur has the ball that fits into the hip sockets. That was found last December when she was in physical rehab.

However, she came down with a multi-drug resistant infection in her lungs so no surgery could be done at that time, and it took several months to finally rid her of that, but not without consequences there.

The infection developed into a pneumonia, which led to an anoxic brain injury from which she has not fully recovered. It could take years from what I've read for her to recover from that, to whatever extent recovery is possible.

In the interim since the anoxic event, due to tube feeding and the nutitional limitations that go along with that (plus osteoporsis, and no physical activity), her bone structures have deteriorated to the point where her hips cannot be repaired. Even though her legs were not burned, now she will never walk again. And unless she recovers more from the anoxia than she has to this point, Robyn will require 24X7 nursing care for the rest of her life.
 
There are other complications as well that I won't go into. My main point, since this is family, is to vent somewhere, and to again remind and urge everyone - If you have a fire, get out as fast as you can. Don't take chances on trying to deal with it yourself because of worries about insurance, saving your home, or whatever. NOTHING is worth having to deal with the possible consequences of trying to be a hero.

May God bless and keep you all...  


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I am so sorry you and your wife had had so many problems. This topic has been around for a long time and I had no idea that things were not better for you. I will be praying for health and strength for both of you.
Brenda

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Tim, your strength to handle all of this can only come from one source. May He continue to look out for you and your wife. Our prayers are with you and her.

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Tim, I think I speak for all of us in saying if there is anything we could do to help just say so. Stay strong.

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Im posting on this thread to bring it back to the top again. In it, Tim talks about what happend to Robyn.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tim and the families.

Jim and Linda

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Tim... I am new here and trying to learn all I can.  Thank you SO much for sharing the tragedy which you are facing.  Your posts brought tears to my eyes and gratitude to my heart that you were willing to share your pain in order to help others.  I am hoping that your wife is improving.  You are both in my prayers.

Kerri

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Tim, I am so very, very sorry to learn about your wife's death.  One of the wonderful members here let me know what had happened.  I will be praying for God to continue to give you the strength to make it through.  Again, I am so very, very sorry for your loss.

Kerri

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Hello Kerri,

Thank you for your kind words. I've received condolences from many on this forum, and it just confirms to me what a special group of people are here. This Thanksgiving has been a far cry from a year ago when I was so filled with hope.

I won't be going RVIng with you all, but I still enjoy reading of your comings and goings here.

One of the longer and most viewed threads in this forum is the one on whether or not to carry a gun. It's also one of the most civil discussions of a potential hot-button issue I've ever seen.

This is only my opinion, but I think practicing fire safety is even more important than what someone chooses for personal protection, because I think a fire is far more likely than experiencing an assault. RVs are filled with things that burn - propane, etc. - and everyone loves sitting around the campfire in the evenings. Things can get out of control very quickly.

Be safe. Keep all your smoke detectors, propane leak detectors, CO detectors etc. in good working order, and have a plan for how to get out from any area of your RV.

I would not wish a tragedy such as what's happened to me and my wife in the past year + on my worst enemy.

GBY,  Tim



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Tim & Robyn


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Through their unfortunate accident, Tim has some very sound advice. But everyone please do have fire extinguishers and smoke detectors generously deployed. While no one needs to be a hero to put out the fire completely for the sake of their own life, that fire extinguisher may be your only bet to keep the fire under control, albeit for maybe seconds, to allow everyone, including yourself, to get out of the RV.
Tim my condolences to your loss........ R

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I agree wholehearrtedly that you should have plenty of fire extinguishers available, and strategically located throughout your coach. Please read Jack Mayer's response further back in this thread. One or two extinguishers won't do, and you need to know how to use them - there won't be time to read the instructions if a fire does break out.

I can't speak from any RVing experience, because I have none, but for me I would have fire extinguishers placed not so much to put out the fire, but to suppress it enough to enable me to get out as fast as possible from any location in the coach.

Here's a link to Mac the Fire Guy, who seems to be very highly regarded in the RVing community; take his advice, not mine:

http://www.macthefireguy.com/

There are some pretty sobering pictures there on his homepage of what appears to be a motorhome fire in a campground, in broad daylight.... From there, there are links to a lot more information.

GBY, Tim


-- Edited by Tim & Robyn on Saturday 28th of November 2009 08:58:23 AM

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Tim & Robyn


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Tim:

I just wanted to let you know that your willingness to share the tragedy which you are enduring has brought about serious changes to my mindset about potential fires.  Fire safety is one of those things that we "know" we should practice, but we may be unable to bring ourselves to believe it truly applies to us personally..... until it is too late.   Your reminder to us will help many people, I'm sure.  You've already helped me and for that, I thank you. 

I pray that you find comfort in your on-going struggles.  You are in my prayers.

Kerri

PS..... I agree with you about the gun thread.  I read it with great interest and it is the 1st time I've seen a civil discussion about the subject on any forum.  I also agree with you about the members here - amazing group of individuals!

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I just thought I'd put another post up here to bring this up to the top because there are a lot of new members here since all this happened, and because I finally met Howard and Linda last Saturday at a COE campground near LaGrange GA, and some of this came up in our chats.

None of us ever think anything like this can ever happen to 'US'.  But it does, every day, to people just like us.

I am not an RVer and now will probably never be. But I do have this advice:

 

Your RV and everything in it is just more 'stuff' that can be replaced... except for you and your loved ones.

1. Have plenty of fire extinguishers, and KNOW HOW TO USE THEM. As I said, if this happens to you there is no time to read the instructions.

2. Have a plan for everybody to get out, and rehearse it so that if, God forbid, this ever happens to you, everyone can get out safely.

 

3. Related to #2 above I would think that you can expect some panic, unless you have rehearsed your plan. Robyn's accident happened in our master bathroom. If she had had the presence of mind (which she didn't, because she was sleepwalking when all this happened) she could have jumped in the shower and turned on the water, and things may have turned out differently.

4. As far as the fire extinguishers go, plan only on suppressing the fire long enough for everyone to get out safely... you may be able to put it out completely, but don't count on it. And if there's one thing we have learned here in this family, there will be plenty of people who are willing to help you out if you need it.

 

I'm posting this because I never really understood what Robyn's pulmonary critical care docter told me. It was that "There is no turning point where you can be sure somebody  with big burns is out of the woods." I understand it only too well now, and my 'mission' now is to put it out there  before you so that you can keep each other safe.

 

God bless Tim



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Tim & Robyn


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As a recent new member of this forum, I just found/read this thread. As Tim said in his last post, there are new members that need to be aware of the tragedy that can happen during and after a house/RV fire. My thoughts and prayer are with Tim, also my sincere thanks for sharing your heartbreaking and personal struggles on this forum. Thank you so much Tim

I now know that when we start our fulltiming adventures in our RV, we will have fire safety and escape plans at the top of our list of "Things to do". I'm so sorry that you (Tim) have had to give up your RV dreams and that you lost your best friend and partner Robyn, I also hope that you take some comfort in knowing that sharing your story is helping so many of us on this forum, to hopefuly avoid a similar fate in our futures.

I lost my Mother when I was 5 due to the burns she received in a fire in our home. I do not have many memories of that period in my life, but I do know that had she lived, she would have had many many years of misery and pain, I know it is not easy, but Robyns passing was really a blessing, she is pain free and skipping between the clouds now:) You have a very special guardian angel taking care of you now. God Bless you Tim
Huggs Kim x

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