# autotrail dakota Fire



## jpt1942 (May 19, 2011)

I wonder if anyone with a Autotrail has had a problem with a fire or gas explosion due to the fridge or heating boiler.My van being a Dakota only a year old went up in flames on wednesday night due to a gas explosion,from what cause we do not know.The builders and fixtures companies seem to be silent.






forum helper note - more detail in title


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## Annsman (Nov 8, 2007)

Crikey! Hope everyone is OK. Were you in it at the time?


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## chiefwigwam (Jan 23, 2013)

Annsman said:


> Crikey! Hope everyone is OK. Were you in it at the time?


Obviously not as he is posting 8O


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

I am sure the assessor for the insurance company will be able to hazard an answer based on his experience, plus the report from the fire brigade.sorry to hear such bad news.

cabby


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## tonka (Apr 24, 2006)

Real sorry to hear about the vehicle loss, assume no one injured as you have not mention...

You do see these thing in the news at times but VERY rare...!
Doubt if there is any particular reason to highlight Autotrail, In 12 years on these forums I have not heard of 1 similar incident let alone being the same make and model...

Was it parked / stored ?. 
Could be so many reasons, investigations should find out..


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

Glad no one was hurt and good luck with the insurance claim.

Paul.


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## baldeagle7470 (Sep 21, 2010)

So sorry to see that dreadful picture.The worst nightmare,hope you are soon sorted with insurers etc. and back on the road ASAP.


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## georgiemac (Oct 22, 2007)

that is so scary thank goodness you are ok . Please let us know when you find the cause.


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## jpt1942 (May 19, 2011)

*autotrail dakota fire*

After realising what had happened in the fire of our van and getting over the shock of it all ,we still think that when we sort out the insurance etc.,that we would still go back and order another autotrail as we think that of all the brittish made vans and we have had 7 autotrails that it is the best built.


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## Annsman (Nov 8, 2007)

I didn't think that was a daft question actually Chief. He could have been in it and got out. People do get out of caravans and motorhomes when they have fires. Plus it might have given some insight as to what the sequence of events were leading up to the incident, was it hooked up? Was the fridge /heater working on gas or electrical hook up? Had there been a smell of gas? had there been heater/fridge faults previously?

Questions the fire service or insurance will have asked, so not that ridiculous.


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

Not much left there!  

Glad you are OK!


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## IntraMore (Mar 12, 2012)

We recently had a problem with our AutoTrail Cheyenne. The acrid smell of rotten eggs was apparent both inside and outside the van while we were parked on a campsite just outside London. Initially, we thought it must have been a bottled gas leak, and it was only after completely removing the gas bottles from the vehicle that we started looking elsewhere for the source.
It turned out that it was one of our leisure batteries overcharging, and producing an excessive amount of highly flammable and highly explosive hydrogen gas.
I feel the poor ventilation at the battery box, together with the close proximity of the exhaust pipe to the battery box, made the risk of serious fire or explosion a serious possibility.
On my return home, I raised the matter with AutoTrail, but they have maintained the vehicle was built to NCC standards and as such, they are [quote:] "...not to blame...[:unquote] (??!).
I subsequently raised the matter with the NCC, but they failed to respond after several contact attempts.
This is currently being investigated by DVSA (formerly VOSA), and I'm starting to wonder whether there have been similar related fire and explosion incidents in the past that might have been wrongly diagnosed as being started by leaking bottled gas?
Anyone had any similar experiences?


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## DBSS (Jun 30, 2013)

Wow. So sorry to hear what happened. Hope you and the family have managed to overcome the trauma of the incident. Rather than speculate am sure the Fire Assessor / Insurance Assessor will be able to point you in the right direction of the true cause of the explosion. 

Glad to see you are still positive with getting another M/H & an Autotrail. We love ours too😄😄


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## molsp (Oct 24, 2013)

That looks horrific 8O I'm so glad you were all ok and I hope you can get to the bottom of why it happened


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Sorry to hear that, quite a shock.

Thanks for letting us know what make the van was, as it was so new it's as likely to be a manufacturing fault as anything else and of course you named the converter by way of enquiry as to whether anyone else with an Autotrail had had a similar problem, Alan.


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## PPBear (Mar 9, 2013)

I've only recently signed up and came across this post and really sorry to hear such news, it'd break my heart to lose my home, it means the world to me....sad, but true.

I have a Dakota and would dearly love to know the outcome from any subsequent investigation so that I could apply any recommendations if any. I regularly use the gas to heat the water and run the fridge and use the fire if required, even to the point of having the water heater on while we enjoy a mug of tea in bed-directly above the heater and possible cause/location of the original fire.

Any update would be gratefully received.


8O


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

> quote - PPBear .......
> 
> Any update would be gratefully received.


Sadly the original post, which was made in February 2013 came from a non-subscriber who last visited this site in June 2013. I think it's unlikely we'll ever hear the outcome


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