By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Losing an RV to a fire is a terrible thing. Losing your life to an RV fire is even worse. But a little prevention could save your rig — even your life.
Every RV is equipped with at least one fire extinguisher, and experts recommend several. But a sad experience from North Dakota highlights that having a fire fighting tool isn’t enough. Regarding an RV fire in a rural area, the local Fire Chief had this comment about the RV owner: “She had trouble getting the fire extinguisher off the wall bracket, which could have otherwise possibly mitigated damage.”
Mitigated damage? In this instance, the owner was able to get out of the rig — but that was the limit. Unable to get the extinguisher loose from the mounting bracket, she was unable to put out what had started as a small fire in the kitchen — evidently lunch just got away.
What about you — and your traveling companions? Does everyone who travels in your RV know how to get the fire extinguishers loose from their mounting brackets, and then how to use them? It could make a huge difference in whether a small fire is a nasty weekend-ender, or a total loss claim.