aj and bj..I like the way you think concerning your fire extinguishers. Better to have and not need than need and not have!
I have been a firefighter for 28 years and I get the distinct impression that you are, or at least, may have been yourself or you have had some experience in some capacity with the word
FIRE...
It's just the same priciple to me when the smoke detector manufacturers recommend a working smoke detector on every level of your home. They now advise putting one near to your sleeping areas.
My stance has always been, you can't have too many. I have at least one in every
room in my home, with three in my garage and two in my kitchen and living room areas, along with carbon monoxide detectors.
Motorhome/camper fires can be serious in a matter of no time, Im talking seconds. They are constructed in the same principle as a mobile home (no pun intended)or "trailers" (again no pun intended).
Most folks know or have heard about how fast mobile homes are consumed by fire, often scant minutes, within as little as 5 minutes. In the fire service, we make very few "saves" of mobile home fires. Not to say that all are lost. Many factors come into play as with all fire responses situations.
The basic reason is that mobile homes, camping trailers, motorhome, what have you are basically a small box, encased in a tight structure, either aluminum or fiberglass. As a fire grows, it intensifies, in large part to the heavy amount on Class A combustibles present on site in close quarters, ( wood, paper, textiles). Add cooking oils to the mix (cooking fires are a leading cause of residential fires)and the problem mutiples dramatically.
The heat, rising to the top of the already low ceilings, rapidly builds heat and spreads outward and then downward, just like water running off would be, if the roles were reveresed.
All the while this heat is radiating and convecting to other combustibles in the "structure". These unburned items, when they reach their own inginiton temperatures, will spontaneously ignite, causing the phenomenom known as a flashover. When flashover occurs, the fire is rapidly spread under intense pressure over surfaces which have reached their iginiton temperature, and eseentially ignites everything in the area.
Many firefighters are killed or injured every year in flashovers..These are trained firefighters, working in larger structures, both residential and commercial, who recognize the warning signs, are trained to react, and have the equipment to protect themselves--and sometimes it is still to no avail.
IMHO, in a motorhome or camper trailer, PERSONALLY, if I was unable to stand up and breathe CLEARLY immediately at the first sign of trouble, I would immediately EVAC the unit--and call 9-1-1..
In your case, you have a large amount of extinguishers present in (what I assume) is a 40 ft unit. That can be good, but early detection is also paramount.We have looked at 40', 42' and a 45' units and, I plan on installing smoke detectors at least every 10 feet on any unit that (prayerfully) the Lord sees fit for me to have, along with at least 2 carbon monoxide detectors, especailly 1 in the sleeping quarters.
Better to retreat and live to fight another day than risk it all--and have no other days.
Tincup hit it squarely on the head, get out, call 911 and then let the insurance company do its job....
I know it will hurt losing your unit and the attached memories and sentimental physical items--but we can replace your unit with another one, probably newer and better, to create new memories with..
But we can't replace you guys!
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