Malibu Beach RV Fire

[FDchief]

Firstly, RVs burn really well. I always have referred to fiberglass as solid gasoline. Now with that said, the good news is that rarely do motorhomes / RVs catch fire, but when they do, it is news worthy. There are many causes of RV fires, gasoline can be a factor, but I have seen diesels burn due to hot transmission fluid on exhaust. Don't assume the refrigerator alone. It's anybody's guess.

Los Angeles County Fire is a very progressive Department. If it looks like they are doing nothing upon first arriving, it is because they are busy doing other things. It does take a while to lay lines and get water flowing. Looking at the equipment that responded, it must have been during fire season, and I am sure they were worried about exposures and spreading to the wildland.

In California, we are required to investigate what we call cause and origin. Many Departments just have an investigation unit that responds to determine the fire's cause and origin, but they can be known as an arson unit. Once we eliminate natural and accidental causes then the fire becomes suspicious.

Carry more than one extinguisher, and use it to protect those who are inside to exit safely. Use the acronym "PASS"; pull, aim, squeeze, and sweep at the base of the flames. Put your extinguisher in use between the fire and the occupants, and towards the area that has already burned. Don't push the fire into an unburned area. Extinguishers are a very effective fire fighting tool. You will be amazed at what they can put out. You can get a little larger unit that comes with your coach at Costco or Walmart. I would suggest a 2A-10BC. Keep copies of important papers in a remote location, consider an online file server for important computer files and pictures for your back up. By all means concentrate your efforts on exiting, a vehicle is not worth your life.

I am on the left in the below photo op

[Rich and Cork]

I had a friend lose his MH to fire a number of years back. He was out in the desert with his son. He had a good campfire going, but it was a breezy night. He had his front window screens open and embers went in through the window and caught his window curtains on fire. The motorhome was burned to the ground quickly. He was lucky they were outside. You have to consider a lot of different scenarios.

[Midniteoyl]

I always have referred to fiberglass as solid gasoline.

Only because they used the cheapest crap resin available...

[Bert_64]

Originally Posted by FDchief

Firstly, RVs burn really well. I always have referred to fiberglass as solid gasoline. Now with that said, the good news is that rarely do motorhomes / RVs catch fire, but when they do, it is news worthy. There are many causes of RV fires, gasoline can be a factor, but I have seen diesels burn due to hot transmission fluid on exhaust. Don't assume the refrigerator alone. It's anybody's guess.

Los Angeles County Fire is a very progressive Department. If it looks like they are doing nothing upon first arriving, it is because they are busy doing other things. It does take a while to lay lines and get water flowing. Looking at the equipment that responded, it must have been during fire season, and I am sure they were worried about exposures and spreading to the wildland.

In California, we are required to investigate what we call cause and origin. Many Departments just have an investigation unit that responds to determine the fire's cause and origin, but they can be known as an arson unit. Once we eliminate natural and accidental causes then the fire becomes suspicious.

Carry more than one extinguisher, and use it to protect those who are inside to exit safely. Use the acronym "PASS"; pull, aim, squeeze, and sweep at the base of the flames. Put your extinguisher in use between the fire and the occupants, and towards the area that has already burned. Don't push the fire into an unburned area. Extinguishers are a very effective fire fighting tool. You will be amazed at what they can put out. You can get a little larger unit that comes with your coach at Costco or Walmart. I would suggest a 2A-10BC. Keep copies of important papers in a remote location, consider an online file server for important computer files and pictures for your back up. By all means concentrate your efforts on exiting, a vehicle is not worth your life.

I am on the left in the below photo op

Thanks for the information. As said, safety first.

Also thank you for the work you do keeping us safe :-)

[rselin]

Originally Posted by powerboatr

man that is horrible
interesting how the pictures look like the fd sort of did nothing for a few
then decided to cool it off.

we had one burn here and the ammonia gave off some really cool blue flames, it took just a few minutes to be just a smoking frame

I took the photos. I was in my unit when all heck broke loose and saw people running and flames shooting up from the RV. I started shooting before any EMS showed up. That is why it may look like the FD didn't do anything - they hadn't arrived yet when I shot half of those photos.

I talked to the owner. He said it started in the roof. Not sure what would have started it in the roof but if you look at the photos you can see the entire roof is on fire while only the front half of the RV is burning.

No determination as to cause (that I know of) had been made before I left yesterday. It was the owner who told me LA County was sending out an investigator. I will probably return to Malibu Beach in mid-February so there might be some news then.

[JohnRR]

Originally Posted by rselin

I took the photos.

Thank you for sharing some first class images with us.

[justimagination]

Originally Posted by rselin

I took the photos. I was in my unit when all heck broke loose and saw people running and flames shooting up from the RV. I started shooting before any EMS showed up. That is why it may look like the FD didn't do anything - they hadn't arrived yet when I shot half of those photos.

I talked to the owner. He said it started in the roof. Not sure what would have started it in the roof but if you look at the photos you can see the entire roof is on fire while only the front half of the RV is burning.

No determination as to cause (that I know of) had been made before I left yesterday. It was the owner who told me LA County was sending out an investigator. I will probably return to Malibu Beach in mid-February so there might be some news then.

....Thanks for the info, consider everyone very luck. Such a tragedy.
David G.

[Midniteoyl]

He said it started in the roof. Not sure what would have started it in the roof

Bad AC wiring?? Wonder if they had it on? Thats scary...