# A Very Sobering Sight!



## Gazzer (May 1, 2005)

I hope no one was hurt 8O


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## ralph-dot (May 10, 2005)

Nice of the fire brigade to stand and watch


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## Gazzer (May 1, 2005)

Obviously affiliated to the British H&S brigade :roll: :roll:


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## IanA (Oct 30, 2010)

Guys, that's a fully developed fire - anybody inside is dead, so no-one to rescue. High risk of explosion from LPG cylinder, property damage to MH only so why take a risk? Stand back and let it go, too late to do much. Their actions are exactly right - only thing they could do for pr would be to squirt a bit of water around.


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## nedsez (May 1, 2005)

Hi Ralph-dot and gazzer
With all due respect...... anyone including firefighters would be very unwise to go anywhere near a fire when maybe full gasbottles are almost certain to explode in a massive boiling liquid vapour explosion.

We saw a small campervan fire a couple of years ago and 2 6kg bottles exploded you would not want to have been within 100yards when they exploded...lucky occupants escaped and ran VERY FAST.


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## Ozzyjohn (Sep 3, 2007)

I certainly wouldn't want ANYONE to be in the vicinity at 2 minutes 10 seconds in to the clip... boom!

Scary stuff.

Particularly thought provoking for those who have, like me, stayed on some of the more crowded aires etc where spacing between vans is "a bit tight".


Regards,
John


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## BwB (Dec 5, 2009)

I'm surprised the firemen let people watch so close - they must have known the van was likely to have had gas aboard. I assumed, when the video started, they knew the bottle had been removed. I've seen gas bottles go off like a rocket.

Must remember to find somewhere a bit more "quickly accessible" to hide my passport n stuff. Be the only thing I'd grab before running away as fast as my little legs would let me. Oh, suppose I'd drag the dog out too.

Oh, and the wife


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## adonisito (Nov 6, 2009)

One thing that struck me watching that (apart from how sad it is) was how could it start? Surely you'd have to have carelessly left the hob on or fallen asleep with a ***. Am I right in thinking that a parked van, heating off, is highly unlikely to catch fire. The fridge?


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

Another thing on the firemens mind was the thick black smoke. You can get pemanent brain damage if you inhale a bit of that!


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Makes you think. All out stuff like passports and credit cards is safely hidden but neat quickly accessible. Now I don't know what to do.


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

ralph-dot said:


> Nice of the fire brigade to stand and watch


Possibly a little understanding of how these things work wouldn't go amiss. :roll:

Dougie.


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## CourtJester (Aug 26, 2009)

asprn said:


> ralph-dot said:
> 
> 
> > Nice of the fire brigade to stand and watch
> ...


Dead right Dougie.
I was in the Fire Service for 15 years and you take cover if propane cylinders are involved!

Clear the area and cool it from afar, if you can.

We did, on three occasions.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

asprn said:


> ralph-dot said:
> 
> 
> > Nice of the fire brigade to stand and watch
> ...


either that or have a higher opinion of people. Especially those that regularly risk their lives.

Dick


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Shame about the van but the one thing I see in the video, its just the same as when Sandra takes any video or photos :roll: ..


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

Glandwr said:


> either that or have a higher opinion of people. Especially those that regularly risk their lives


Dick,

I'm slightly unclear about your meaning - assuming though by "people" you mean the firefighters, I can't have a higher opinion of them (see my signature..). If though by "people" you mean the poster whose comment I quoted, I do have a low opinion of throw-away comments which stem from ignorance.

I appreciate my comments are a little harsh, and certainly no offence was intended to the poster personally. Having faced a lifetime of such professional criticism however, I personally find such comments depressing (and sometimes extremely odious). The firefighting fraternity's responses to the comments here, bear that out.

I'm cool though. 

Dougie.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Dougie - did you have to go through a gradual de-stress programme before you hung up your truncheon?

Or did you just have to suffer immediate withdrawal symptoms with the heebie-jeebies?

I am not joking either - unless Morocco is part of your de-stress programme!!


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## MicknPat (Jul 18, 2005)

ralph-dot said:


> Nice of the fire brigade to stand and watch


They were NOT just watching but they were filming the incident to make a training film on how to save water. :lol:


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

pippin said:


> Dougie - did you have to go through a gradual de-stress programme before you hung up your truncheon?


Yes - it was called "The Last Two Years At Work".  I didn't wish my time away because I knew it would fly by anyway - plus I still loved the job - but as with most things, there were more & more demands with less & less resources, and I was lucky to be asked to do a specialist investigator's job for the last year, which was Mon-Fri dayshifts. THAT made a huge difference - my body was bitterly complaining about shifts, although I still liked them.



pippin said:


> Or did you just have to suffer immediate withdrawal symptoms with the heebie-jeebies?


Nope. I starting some serious family history research (that word again, lol) a few months before retirement, and it took off amazingly (I found I had a big family in Australia I never knew about  ). That was a strategy which worked for me. Then we started preparing in earnest for several months away in Spain & Morocco, plus the year-long US/Canada road trip this year. I've never been so stressed... 

Retiring from any off-the-wall profession affects people differently (to state the obvious), but not to have a strategy prepared is, I think, risky. Several ex-colleagues over the years died only a few months after retirement, most from heart attacks. Others have become depressed - and some are living the dream!

Dougie.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

asprn said:


> Glandwr said:
> 
> 
> > either that or have a higher opinion of people. Especially those that regularly risk their lives
> ...


Dougie I was referring to the fact that some people credit others with low intent while others by nature expect the best of everyone. By far the most of us though approach other people with an open mind.

To assume inactivity from the firemen was a result of laziness, or a lackadaisical approach to their job spoke more about the poster's outlook than the situation. Don't know if that makes sense.

Dick


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Did you notice that there were a bunch of videos on Youtube of camper fires. Really makes me realize once again how lucky I was to discover my little fire recently. Five minutes later and it would have looked like that video.


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

ralph-dot said:


> Nice of the fire brigade to stand and watch


There is no need for the fire brigade to intervene. Any occupants would have escaped long before the fire caught hold. Once the fire had reached those proportions it is safer to let it burn out.
Gerry


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

Glandwr said:


> To assume inactivity from the firemen was a result of laziness, or a lackadaisical approach to their job spoke more about the poster's outlook than the situation. Don't know if that makes sense


Perfectly, and is exactly the point I was trying to make.

Dougie.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

My first uninformed impression was, yeah where's the fire department. But yes of course there was no saving the camper and a very real danger of being too close. The only thing I wondered about was the danger to surrounding properties. I suppose that was considered and discounted in light of the present danger.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

The first actions of any disaster is, 

Are there any lives to be saved.
Is it safe to proceed
What is the risk to the crews and general public.
Act accordingly even if it means letting the vehicle burn.

I did notice that the motorcyclists protective footwear was a pair of flip flops.

Some years ago a storage yard with gas cylinders down the road from us was on fire.
The overheated cylinders were exploding and landing in our garden over 120 yards away. It was a bit scary.


Dave p


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

Once the fire took hold; would you want to keep the van?
Someone mentioned saving water..... if the van was petrol driven and sprayed with water, it could have floated the petrol about and speeded up the fire.
I wonder if they were Gaslow tanks and fastened in with metal straps, that might have saved the day :twisted: 
Alan


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## WingPete (Jan 29, 2006)

*Watch again !*

The video is quite good at showing the scenario, which might need a little explanation.
The Fire Department vehicles on view are not equipped for any fire fighting more than a vehicle engine fire (very small).
There might be an officers car on show, but the van is most likely a Paramedic vehicle with no adequate means of controlling fire such as seen.
During the video, there is a small explosion from the right side rear locker, which I expect was the gas cylinder, briefly violent but harmless where people are concerned. None nearby.
The greater explosion could have been the water system self demolishing the van. With the temperatures expected in the van, all water containers, i.e. heater, tank, would have reached a point above boiling and turned to steam. Extremely violent in behaviour.
A tow tone could be heard approaching, which I took to be a fire fighting vehicle coming from a town perhaps 20 mins away. By the time they arrive, as in this country, the vehicle has been reduced to junk.
Which is why important documents and articles are kept in a place where swift access is always possible by the owners in an emergency evacuation.
Just my lifetime experience in one occupation, fire safety, speaking out.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

We came across a small MH that had turned over on the way out from the Shepton show, the van had caught fire, the only occupant was pulled out literally seconds before it went up with minor injuries only.

When the gas cylinders exploded the debris was scattered over a 200m radius. The Fire Service were there and damped down afterwards but there was NO WAY anyone could have tackled the fire when it was at full stretch. The heat was immense even 200m away.

Yes we were close when it first went over, we helped with the occupant after he was out, but tackling that sort of incident with the small fire extinguisher that we all have available would have achieved NOTHING except injuries to us when it exploded.

Les Pompiers on the video behaved exactly as I would wish - there is no point endangering more lives needlessly. I am sure they would have checked that the vehicle did not have anyone inside by asking around, but going in there would have been impossible.



DTPCHEMICALS said:


> I did notice that the motorcyclists protective footwear was a pair of flip flops.


and their shorts guarantee that if they came off so would their skin........ hardly sensible attire :roll:

Dave


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

Weird noises at 3 minutes. Sounds like it has really bad wind.

I am with other posters on this. If it were my van on fire, as a fulltimer I would lose everything I own. I would not want firemen to risk their lives to save my van. If they could put it out safely without risk to themselves fair play otherwise let it burn.....

Karl


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

I watched a Range Rover burn itself out.

I was desperate to get past it but common sense prevailed.

The sad part was when the tyres blew out one by one but what really got to me was when the wing mirrors melted and just fell off.

By the time the fire brigade arrived they just hosed down the burnt out shell.

We all kept well out of the way until they indicated it was safe to pass.


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## motormouth (Jul 3, 2010)

Just to add fuel to the flames (sorry), on Real Rescues today a fire crew tackle a caravan which is burning fiercely. One of the crew is within a few feet with his hose and shouts to his mate to find out if there are any gas cylinders on board. The van was on the owners drive so I suppose they had to deal with the blaze rather than let it burn out.


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

Can you imagine that on board a ferry perhaps all those that say leave your fridge on will rethink that now.


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## dhutchy (Feb 7, 2010)

There was a motorhome caught fire outside the front of a terraced house in Haworth a couple of weeks ago its burnt all the fronts of two houses the neighbours car was destroyed, luckily there must have been a lot of people at work or there would have been a lot more vehicles there.When walking past a few weeks ago i noticed an electric lead was plugged in ,i wonder if they had a heater in there ,i haven't heard of the cause yet but it was nasty .There are pictures in the telegraph and argus site but sorry i don't know how to download and link them


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## ciderdaze (Mar 28, 2006)

My Euramobil after the fire on my drive


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## Gazzer (May 1, 2005)

Mon dieu! 8O 8O 8O 8O 
That must have been terrifying. What an awful thing to have to experience.


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## ciderdaze (Mar 28, 2006)

This was just over a year ago,House also caught on fire, firemen took 25 min to get to us and thats what was left, Fridge started it so they say, Gas bottles did not explode they are designed with a rubber seal which melts and releases gas so i was told, over it now but did shake us up, And we have replaced van with the same , We dont keep it on the drive any more and always turn of gas when not in use


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