£80,000 camper van goes up in flames (1 Viewer)

[scotjimland]

Hopefully insured... and not a Funsters..

March 09, 2012

An £80,000 camper van was destroyed in a blaze after what firefighters believe was an electrical fault in Tilehurst on Wednesday night.

Crews from Dee Road and Caversham Road stations were called to Waverley Road after the six-wheeler caught alight at around 6.30pm.

Police cordoned off the road in both directions between St George’s Road and Tilehurst Road.

Firefighters entered the van with breathing apparatus and used two hose reels to finally extinguish the flames.

Other source,

NEIGHBOURS rushed to the rescue of a family in west Reading when their £80,000 camper van caught alight last night.

The couple and their teenage son were inside their Waverley Road home when homeowners nearby noticed that their Auto-Trail Fiat Ducato - which was parked outside on the road - was on fire.

Dee Road fire crew were called at 7.30pm and spent 45 minutes at the scene.

Firefighter John Rumble said: "Basically the owners were in and the campervan was on the road outside. Residents knocked on their door and told them it was on fire, so they called us.

"We think it was an electrical fault behind the driver's seat because that was where the damage mainly was, but that's only speculation.

"Luckily we don't think it's a total write-off. There was a lot of heat and the camper van is worth about £80,000."

Crew manager Mike Wilson, from Dee Road fire station, said: “The flames were coming out of the windows and there was a lot of smoke blowing down the street. We had the fire out in minutes and then stripped out the internals.

“There was some damage to the front, but most of the damage was internal.

“We think it was an electrical fault that started on the driver’s side where the batteries are and it spread through the van from there.”

 

[madbluemad]

Not good news at all. This is where you find out how good your insurance company is.
Jim

 

[Reallyretired]

Like the idea that flames were coming out of the windows and the firemen stripped out the internals, but they don't think its a write off

They make a big play of it being £80,000 but is it new or is that what it cost 10years ago, and is it of any relevance to the story anyway. I think its like the papers always like to put people ages whether relevant or not.

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[icantremember]

Must be brand new with a load of extras.......the dearest Autotrail is under 70K otr

 

[Reallyretired]

Must be brand new with a load of extras.......the dearest Autotrail is under 70K otr

Trying to boost their insurance claim perhaps

 

[madbluemad]

Must be brand new with a load of extras.......the dearest Autotrail is under 70K otr

Really, Whats the cheapest.
Jim

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[icantremember]

Really, Whats the cheapest.
Jim

47K oh:

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

That is 99% certain to be a write off, smoke and water damage

Peter

 

[GJH]

I hope they get as good a service from their insurance company as we had from Highway/LV.

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[madbluemad]

47K oh:

So what model can you get brand new for 47k. I'm not taking the Michael by the way.
Jim

Link Removed

 

[cydersyd]

Instead of knocking the unfortuanate owners who may have lost a good deal of money as insurance companies rarely pay out the 'real' value to the owners, think of the hassle, negotiation and time that will be wasted trying to get back to what they had.

My sympathies go out to them and If they happen to be "FUN" members
we should be looking how to help them!!

Cydersyd.

 

[madbluemad]

Instead of knocking the unfortuanate owners who may have lost a good deal of money as insurance companies rarely pay out the 'real' value to the owners, think of the hassle, negotiation and time that will be wasted trying to get back to what they had.

My sympathies go out to them and If they happen to be "FUN" members
we should be looking how to help them!!

Cydersyd.

?????

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[haganap]

Instead of knocking the unfortuanate owners who may have lost a good deal of money as insurance companies rarely pay out the 'real' value to the owners, think of the hassle, negotiation and time that will be wasted trying to get back to what they had.

My sympathies go out to them and If they happen to be "FUN" members
we should be looking how to help them!!

Cydersyd.

Indeed if they are members or anyone knew them we would be Syd.

But I cant see anyone knocking them? only questions relating to the value of their weekend bungalow?:thumb:

 

[scotjimland]

My thought is what caused the fire..

Can only go on the report and that's mostly speculation.. but from that it would appear to be a battery fire under the drivers seat ..

if so, was it on hook-up.. ? and if so was it a faulty charger ? and if so what was the source of ignition.. a lose connection .. ? .. a product defect ? .. lots of questions that need answers.. no doubt the insurers will be asking..

 

[bigfoot]

Another FIAT/SEVEL fault?

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[icantremember]

Another FIAT/SEVEL fault?

It happens to Hymer too..........

"Hymer electrical fire, close call...

Hello all,

travelling over the Cuillin on Skye last week when there was a loud crack under the passenger seat, sparks, lots of smoke and smell of burning.

Fortunately able to pull into a lay-by instantly, chuck wife, sprog and dog out and break out the Lidl's fire extinguisher. Maybe should have run and hid?

The insulation to the leisure battery under the seat was ablaze, so I put that out. The extinguisher ran out, and then the wiring to the transformer/rectifier under the driver's seat got going!

Manage to switch off box and pull out a handful of wiring, plugs and fuses (all in the space of about 10 seconds, I hasten to add) then stood back and hoped for the best.

It all calmed down eventually, but all the wiring under the cab seats is a melted mess.

Disconnected everything to do with habitation electrics from the engine battery and proceeded with an acute sense of smell to the nearest fire-extinguisher shop in Portree for a replacement. Then rented a cottage! Van still driveable, but obviously nothing from the cab back works.

Very lucky escape for us all, but the consequences could be dire.

Any thoughts or comments as to cause or what to do next would be welcome. Insurance company has been informed, and we wait to see what the claims department make of it...

Otherwise it was a jolly good holiday!"
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Pasted from another forum


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[scotjimland]

It happens to Hymer too..........

Hymers also use the Fiat chassis .. but we can only speculate, there may be no connection between the two incidents... but what a lucky escape, could have been very nasty.. :Sad:

 

[John & Joan]

I had a CF Autosleeper go up in similar circumstances 7 years ago. The fire people said the seat of the fire was behind the steering column cowel. It was not on EHU. It has stood from November and the fire was in February. It was foggy, so could have been damp or mice, or even a combination of both.

The curtains went up but the rest of the van didn't. I dashed out with a hose and just got to the drivers window when it shattered. Firemen arived at that point and it was out in a second.

Total write off because of smoke damage.

This February on Vouvray Aire we were using our inverter to power the Sky box. We switched off the Sky box but couldn't get the inverter to turn off. I dashed outside in the snow and opened the battery locker where the inverter was also housed. I could smell burning so I shouted for Joan to get me a screw driver. I quiclky emptied the locker and as I lifted the inverer on its mounting board up to disconect it, there was a crack and smoke started to pour out of it just then the internal alarm in the inverter went off for a second as I got the power off it and all was well. Joan had the fire extinguisher ready but we didn't use it.

When I got back to the UK I stripped the inverter and a capacitor had blown and the board was charred at that point. It was minus 11c in France and our leisure batteries had been playing up. We had been running the Gasparini to keep the batteries up.

I can only put the battery problem and this one down to the extreme cold as the batteries tested as fine when we got back to the UK.

We were quick enough to deal with the problem, this time, as we were in the Motorhome.

A new 2000w inverter is going to cost £410. I asked for a quote for a new circuit board and it was more than the price of a new inverter. Much cheaper than replacing our home as we are full timing. Until then we are on hookup using CLs and CSs. I now have two cooling fans to put in the fridge vent if I wish from the scrap inverter.

The moral is keep a screw driver and spanner handy in case of trouble.

John

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[Gooney]

Another FIAT/SEVEL fault?

Another Fiat/Sevel fault? Can I have some facts? I believe a Peugot Boxer is a Sevel and would like to know what faults I am not aware of please
Thanks in anticipation
Tony:thumb:

 

[madbluemad]

Lucky man. Its a good job that you knew what you were doing as I wouldn't have had a clue. Glad your both ok.
Jim

 

[JockandRita]

That is 99% certain to be a write off, smoke and water damage

Peter

Absolutely Peter, and without a doubt..........unfortunately.

Regards,

Jock.

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[Judge Mental]

Let's hope for their sakes its not due to dodgy DIY

 

[gozomike]

Let's hope for their sakes its not due to dodgy DIY

I guess they will know how good the insurance was by now the post is 3 years old.

 

[Judge Mental]

Blimey..... how's that happen? Old thread pop up again I mean....

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[sedge]

We knew a country garage owner years ago who made a fortune getting first refusal on all accident damaged write off VW Campers from the Guardian (who insured shedloads of them) and tarting them up for resale - if he wouldn't be able to do that cheaply then he didn't buy them. There was a fire at Bingley Hall in Brum years ago during the annual Caravan & Camping show and none of the Campers were physically damaged, just smoke damaged but being brand new when they got to the hall no way could the dealer flog em for top dollar.

However it transpired that quite a number only needed a darn good wash on the outside - and that paid nicely for his indoor swimming pool Ta very much .......

(My first husband who'd known the guy for years, was roped in at one time to persuade the wife that their son wishing to buy a motorbike wasn't 'A Really Bad Idea, Honestly' - as Dad wasn't having much success changing her mind - and he'd like another one too please! ROFL)

 

[JJ]

Blimey..... how's that happen? Old thread pop up again I mean....

Someone restarted it...

JJ

 

[Judge Mental]

Someone restarted it...

JJ

nope that dont work...my post was the first after Broken Link Removeda's dated 2012. what I meant was, how did it arrive in recent posts after all his time..I would not of answered it otherwise, as only tend to look on "recent" post section.

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[pappajohn]

Well i guess it was a recent post compared to one from 2007

 

[JJ]

Maybe whoever restarted it suddenly realised it was an old thread and deleted their post... and then who should come along...?

Shall I get my investigation department on it?

JJ

 

[Judge Mental]

ha ha ha..I will be more circumspect in future!

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