RV & HOME FIRE SAFETY “2.0”

By Lanny # 16

Happy New Year, y’all.

Many of you will remember a RV & Home fire safety presentation

made last season by the Edinburg Fire Marshal.

After the presentation, we intended to provide for you a

hands-on fire extinguisher exercise, also conducted by Edinburg FD,

but alas, we ran into a very dry spring with extended burn bans,

& after 2 reschedules & no rain in sight,

we had to scuttle the extinguisher training until this season.

Edinburg FD kindly scheduled our extinguisher class for Dec 17,

and as you know, that one had to be rescheduled.

Due to rain.

Love that Texas weather.

It is presently re-rescheduled to JANUARY 7, 9:30AM

(weather permitting, of course)!

The NEW sign up sheets are on the table in the pavilion,

& we hope tons of y’all will sign up & come.

The second purpose of this note is to share the findings of the questionnaire

you filled out at the training session last season.

Some of the responses were expected, & some were not.

• 84% said they had 1 or 2 fire extinguishers in their living unit.
• 53% of those extinguishers are 8 years or older.
• 69% of you have actually discharged an extinguisher in an emergency or training exercise (that’s surprisingly high).
• All said they have smoke detectors, and 82% said they had replaced batteries within the last year.
• 64% said they have actually tested smoke detectors while in bed to verify they could be heard.
• 83% of you have designated an assembly point for other family members in case of an emergency evacuation, & the same number say they have their address, space number & gate code readily available in case of a 911 call.

All very commendable numbers, gang.

Give yourself a bow.
However…….(you knew there would be a however, didn’t you?)

Much confusion exists relative to the different types of detectors,

in particular, “CO” or carbon monoxide detectors.

There are 3 types of detectors found in our mobile homes or RV’s.

All of us have “smoke” detectors that monitor combustion by-products

that occur in the incipient stages of a fire.

They will be mounted high on ceilings or walls.

Each RV should have come with at least one smoke detector

& mobile homes with one in front of each sleeping room or hallway.

RV’s built in the last 15 years WITH GAS FUELED APPLIANCES

will also have “CO” or carbon monoxide detectors, typically one per unit, also mounted high. CO is the odorless, colorless by-product of incomplete combustion.

CO can occur when gas ranges or ovens

are used without adequate ventilation,

or when gas furnaces or water heaters (RV’s) are not operating correctly

or have worn heat exchangers with perforations.

CO detectors are also recommended for mobile homes

& site-built homes with gas fueled appliances.

The 3rd type of detector is the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) alarm,

or “propane sniffer”.

These are normally found only in RV’s,

and are mounted very low to the floor.

They are monitoring the air for unburned propane

& will alarm before explosive concentrations

can occur in the event of leakage.

What’s the life span of these detectors?

Smoke detectors – replace at 10 years.

CO detectors – replace at 5 years.

LPG alarms – replace at 5 years.

All of these devices require immediate replacement if they fail to respond to their test buttons.

Hope this clears the confusion on detector types & life spans.

Now, let’s do the fun stuff on Jan 7th,

and attend the re-rescheduled fire extinguisher class!


Thanks, Lanny & Donna # 16.