How many of you regularly test the smoke alarms in your RV? Many times an alarm can go off falsely. I myself have had that happen, walked into my unit to discover it was a false alarm. However, knowing what I know now, I’d never repeat that mistake. If you heard your alarm beeping, should you open the door to check? Absolutely not!
A few years ago, there was an incident in a NJ campground where an alarm was sounding, and the owners were not around. Unbeknown to anyone, there was apparently a fire that had used up the oxygen inside and the unit was filled with super-heated gases. The campground owner’s son unlocked the door and opened it. But that was a serious mistake. The added oxygen caused a back-draft and he was badly burned.
The lesson learned from this is two-fold. First, if there is an occasion where an alarm is sounding, first feel the door for heat. If it’s hot, do not open it and call the fire department. Also, if the door isn’t hot, and a decision is made to check it out, position yourself so that you are behind the door as it opens. If he had done that, the door would have been between him and the fire and would have given some protection and he would have had less severe burns.
Fires move rapidly in an RV. There are steps to take to help prevent the devastating loss as a result of fire. The National Park Service has a comprehensive article on fire safety and prevention while traveling in your RV. Please read the article below. It could save your life.
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