A bit of excitement on Sunday morning. (Pic heavy)

[EMD_Driver]

We were awakened around 3:45 Sunday morning, by my mom screaming. I honestly thought she had fallen and broken something badly. I ran downstairs and she was pointing towards the front of our camper. There was a bright orange glow and I thought one of our neighbor's camper was on fire. I opened our door and saw that it was our TV on fire. I came back in, grabbed my phone and went back out. While talking to the dispatcher, I grabbed the hose, that I keep hooked to our neighboring site's spigot and started attacking the fire. The cans of brake cleaner, slide lube, wd40 and what not were exploding. The noise woke several of our neighbors up and they brought their fire extinguishers.

Between the extinguishers and the hose, we managed to get the fire out before the first fire engine arrived. It turned out, that the fire originated underneath the toolbox, in the bed of the truck. I had twin electric air compressors and an air tank mounted under the toolbox. The only thing I can think of, is that one of the many feral cats around here climbed under the toolbox and possibly chewed one of the wires. It was much cooler than usual that night and that was a cozy little area that they have been in before. As of right now, I'm still waiting on the insurance company to inspect the damage and either give me an estimate, or total it.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt! The fire did change our plans to hitch up the camper and head to New Orleans next week. I guess it wasn't meant to be! I took several pictures and will let them speak for themselves...



















What's left of our leveling blocks...






The remains of our generator... It was full of fuel and the fuel vapor pressure pushed the cap gasket out of the way, so the gas could boil-off. Thankfully, it did boil-off and didn't explode!




The remains of the truck toolbox. Aluminum melts at 1,650*F and there's not much left of the box itself.


The truck was parked in front of the camper and the only damage to the camper, is some greasy soot splatter. However, with the tremendous amount of heat that was generated, I'm not willing to trust the hitch anymore. I'm including the hitch in the insurance claim. I normally don't keep the generator in the truck, except during hurricane season. We had to evacuate for hurricane Matthew and I wanted to be sure the season was over, before unloading it.

God kept us safe and we are very thankful for that!

[hoosierrun]

Good Lord! Glad no one was hurt. Those look like bottles of propane in the back of the truck.

[EMD_Driver]

Originally Posted by hoosierrun

Good Lord! Glad no one was hurt. Those look like bottles of propane in the back of the truck.

Actually, those were bottles of diet coke... It was on sale, so I bought a couple month's worth..

[rockintom]

OMG EMD.....Holy Smokes! First and foremost I'm so glad that no one was hurt. The old Ford can be replaced. Total loss for sure. I'm just curious, was that box strictly a told box or a toolbox/tank combo? You are right, you have a lot to be thankful for. Sometimes I think we are being tested....and things like this keep us a little more humble. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road for you. And I wouldn't even think about reusing that hitch. Metal savage yard should be it's new home. Make sure the insurance company figures all the goodies that you've added to the truck. The price adds up fast. Thanks for sharing this experience. rockin'

[EMD_Driver]

Originally Posted by rockintom

OMG EMD.....Holy Smokes! First and foremost I'm so glad that no one was hurt. The old Ford can be replaced. Total loss for sure. I'm just curious, was that box strictly a told box or a toolbox/tank combo? You are right, you have a lot to be thankful for. Sometimes I think we are being tested....and things like this keep us a little more humble. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road for you. And I wouldn't even think about reusing that hitch. Metal savage yard should be it's new home. Make sure the insurance company figures all the goodies that you've added to the truck. The price adds up fast. Thanks for sharing this experience. rockin'

This was strictly a toolbox. I had my air compressor system mounted under it. B&W uses rubber/vinyl heads on top of the hitch support arms. It will be interesting to see what shape they are in, when I pull the hitch head off. As I said, the generator was fully fueled up. Had the tank blown, things would have turned out very different! I did lose the three gas cans, that I used for generator fuel. Thank God they were empty!

We've also gotten to know several of our neighbors and they were incredibly helpful that morning! I offered to replace their fire extinguishers and they refused me.

[jpjulian]

OUCH! Having been to many vehicle fires during my career, that could have been far worse. Be very thankful the fire didn't spread to your RV. Glad there were no injuries. Best of luck with the insurance company.

Joe

[Cover Dog]

They build those every day, but you're one of a kind. Thank goodness no one was hurt. I'd start looking at new trucks because in my opinion that's totaled.

[EMD_Driver]

I learned today, that the insurance will only cover $200 worth of personal effects in the vehicle. After I totaled everything up, they're about $5,800 short... I had EVERYTHING in the truck, that we needed for evacuations.. Live and learn...

[CLIFFTALL]

Was that your Truck Ins co or your homeowners ( if you have a policy ) ?

[EMD_Driver]

Originally Posted by Clifftall

Was that your Truck Ins co or your homeowners ( if you have a policy ) ?

That's the truck policy. We're living in our Excel, so no homeowner's...

[CLIFFTALL]

Is there separated Ins on the Excel ?

[EMD_Driver]

Originally Posted by Clifftall

Is there separated Ins on the Excel ?

The Excel has $5,000 of contents coverage. I have to find out if it will carry over to the truck, but I'm not hopeful..

[vsheetz]

Wow, so glad all are ok. As for the damage to the truck, I think it will buff out. (-:

[CLIFFTALL]

You may have a percentage that is covered off premises. The truck may qualify as being off premises. Good luck.

Originally Posted by EMD_Driver

The Excel has $5,000 of contents coverage. I have to find out if it will carry over to the truck, but I'm not hopeful..