Castanet

Reading that story sounds like it went really fast. RIP to the man who passed.

Bubalouie wrote:Reading that story sounds like it went really fast. RIP to the man who passed.

LINK: https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#216254

thanks forgot to link it

Bubalouie wrote:Reading that story sounds like it went really fast. RIP to the man who passed.

That's one thing about mobile homes, park models, RVs etc., they burn FAST. RV fires in particular can be difficult to escape depending on what you happen to be in... 5th-wheel bedrooms located above the hitch pin for example can be pretty far up off the ground and those egress windows (while regulated to have a certain size opening), aren't always easy to get out off, and then you have to drop 10' to the ground.

What RV has a 20ft roof?

Maximum trailer height, by regulation, is a max. of 13'6".

alanjh595 wrote:Maximum trailer height, by regulation, is a max. of 13'6".

Yeah, sorry, my bad, that was supposed to say 10' ... not 20", I hit the 2 instead of the 1 on my keypad and didn't notice it until you pointed it out, thanks. I've eddied my earlier post to reflect this. Regardless, its a long way down through a side egress, but I suppose you'd jump if you had a fire nipping at your heels.

The bedroom window exit on my 5th wheel is almost exactly 7' from the ground. (on a flat surface)
I can touch the bottom of the window with my hands and my Wife would be about a foot shorter than that.

My point being that by going out that window and hanging onto the bottom of it you will have at the most a 2' drop.
The rear emergency exit window is about chin level and would be no problem at all.

I think an A Class might be a bit taller but still not a big deal for most. I do know several people who because of their age or size would definitely have trouble getting out through those.

it was a mobile home in a trailer park not a 5th wheel trailer in an rv park

RVThereYet wrote:

alanjh595 wrote:Maximum trailer height, by regulation, is a max. of 13'6".

Yeah, sorry, my bad, that was supposed to say 10' ... not 20", I hit the 2 instead of the 1 on my keypad and didn't notice it until you pointed it out, thanks. I've eddied my earlier post to reflect this. Regardless, its a long way down through a side egress, but I suppose you'd jump if you had a fire nipping at your heels.

A 6 foot man (for example and round numbers) with 2 foot arms, hanging from the bottom of an egress that was no more than 2 feet from the roof of a 12 foot top, would be no more than a drop of 4 feet to the ground. Maybe more if it was less than 2 feet from the edge of a cliff/embankment, but who would park that close to a cliff?
Total of a 4' drop for a 6' man and a 5' drop for a 5' woman. Both are survivable.

Sorry Sudsy, you posted while I was writing this one. Our calculations are pretty close.

RV parts and mobile home parks perhaps need a closer look at regulations. Yes the homes are built to spec, but are people covering the additional fire escapes? Are there working fire extinguishers, or fire hydrants on the property? When there is a death involve, it is an excellent time to look at what went wrong and try and make sure it doesn't happen again.

AlienSoldier wrote:RV parts and mobile home parks perhaps need a closer look at regulations. Yes the homes are built to spec, but are people covering the additional fire escapes? Are there working fire extinguishers, or fire hydrants on the property? When there is a death involve, it is an excellent time to look at what went wrong and try and make sure it doesn't happen again.

Working smoke detectors would likely save just as many lives and don't require any change to regulations. It's a strange situation really... Every year, fire dept's have to remind people to change their batteries, and yet, year over year, people keep dying because they either don't have a detector or because they chose to not replace the battery. Much of this responsibility lies with home owners.

I say this, not referring to this article as I know nothing about the circumstances around the fatality.

From what I understand it's a 55+ park, I've read in the past that the fire departments sometimes go door to door in these places to ensure they have working smoke detectors and will replace if necessary. Don't know if that would have helped here or not looking at the pictures and who knows how long it was on fire before it was reported as it was early Sunday morning.
The police were there for 2 days afterwards as well as per a friend, is that normal?

Bubalouie wrote:From what I understand it's a 55+ park, I've read in the past that the fire departments sometimes go door to door in these places to ensure they have working smoke detectors and will replace if necessary. Don't know if that would have helped here or not looking at the pictures and who knows how long it was on fire before it was reported as it was early Sunday morning.
The police were there for 2 days afterwards as well as per a friend, is that normal?

Normal when there is a fatality, yes. It's a potential crime scene until ruled otherwise.

If someone falls asleep while smoking in bed, or another scenario where a fire begins very quickly, very close to them a smoke detector may not help, nor will fire exits. Despite our best efforts there will always be fire related deaths that just aren't preventable.