Fire Safety Article Comments
I enjoyed the article on fire safety in the December issue of Family RVing. It was well written. I’ve been involved with the fire service for 50 years and have seen many things, most of them bad when dealing with fires. Last month my wife and I were camping in the Big Bend area, and a camper trailer pulled in by us. Upon seeing it, I was concerned about one thing: getting out of it in a fire. The windows weren’t big enough to get my dog out of them, much less my wife or me. The door was at one end and the bedroom at the other, with all the things that could start a fire between them. You would think you could run through smoke or fire for 20 feet to get out, but it doesn’t always work that way. Now, this wasn’t an old trailer that had been refurbished, but a brand-new trailer with a high price tag. People shopping for new RVs rarely look past the glitz of a new unit to think about things that could happen to them while camping. Even the two other couples who were camping with us didn’t think about the safety hazard until I mentioned it to them.
― James Blackwell, F530056
Tylertown, Mississippi
The December “RV Fire Safety” article has some good pointers, some incorrect info, and some missed opportunities.
With the level of detail on extinguishers, perhaps adding the fire tetrahedron, which adds a fourth element, the chemical reaction, would have been appropriate. It’s been taught over the triangle for many years now. The variety of extinguishers available was a bit much. Most people have never heard of the more esoteric versions, and pricing would most likely have them avoid them.
Regarding dry chemical extinguishers “packing”: There isn’t a single extinguisher manufacturer that recommends turning over, shaking, or whacking dry chems with a mallet. Just isn’t a thing.
Having a hundred various fire extinguishers at your disposal is useless without training. An individual who has never operated and extinguished a fire in a controlled training environment most likely would never be able to fight a fire successfully given the size of the readily available units.
Fires in RVs? I would not recommend that anyone fight an RV fire unless it is in the just beginning or incipient stage, and then only after they have determined an exit.
Personally, I think the article would have been better suited to the reader if the “fire, smoke, CO, propane alert” section was first and foremost in the article, followed by prevention and escape.
How many people actually know which is the emergency window and how to open it?
How many could actually get out that window, if they never tried? But, in the words of Richard Pryor, “Fire is inspirational.”
Get out, stay out, and never go back in is the advice we have been teaching kids and adults for 30-plus years.
― Duane Clause, F479928
Dagsboro, Delaware
Another Arizona Gem
Pat Jennette’s “Discovering Southern Arizona” article (January 2024) missed a very important stop off Interstate 10 in southern Arizona. That is the Amerind Museum (amerind.org) in Dragoon. It is a fabulous museum about American Indians located about 1 mile south of I-10 (exit 318, Dragoon Road). It is up a gravel road, and you cannot see it from Amerind Road. Don’t fear; there is a huge parking lot, and we went there in our 40-foot motorhome, pulling a towed car. There was plenty of room to maneuver and park.
We highly suggest a stop there. It is very much worth your time. It is listed as a GEM (Great Experience for Members) attraction in our AAA TourBook. Last time we were there, we also visited the art gallery, which displayed fabulous art, mostly from the Southwest.
Here is what is said in Apple Maps about the location: “The Amerind Foundation is a museum and research facility dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Native American cultures and their histories. Its facilities are located near the village of Dragoon, Arizona, in Cochise County, about 65 miles east of Tucson, Arizona, in Texas Canyon. William Shirley Fulton (1880—1964), an archaeologist, established the Amerind Foundation in 1937.”
― Carl Smith, F400254
San Antonio, Texas