Motorhome destroyed by fire at Brighton.Sad news. (1 Viewer)

Feb 14, 2009
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Chandlers Ford, Hampshire
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Burstner TD700 H L
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Since 2008
It's sad to report this motorhome was destroyed yesterday by a fire. The owners were out and it is believed that the electric hob may have been accidently knocked "on" as they left the van. This ignited items on top of the glass. The warning is to double check all controls and switches. Our thoughts and wishes go to those affected by this.
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Tootles

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Sep 14, 2013
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Was a newbie, now a Middie.
Thats really sad. :cry: I hope they didnt have a dog inside, as some have. :(

The awning looks OK though. :xThumb:
 

Ksagic

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Feb 21, 2015
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So sad to see this happen. Thankfully you say the owners were out so no injuries. Interesting to see the gas locker seems to have remained in one piece..:xThumb:

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Anthea M

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That looks terrible ,hopefully all are okay. Shows just how easily they can be destroyed.
 
Nov 11, 2013
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Having been a loss adjuster for most of my career I have seen so many cases where serious fires have started from the tiniest, most insignificant sources. My wife thinks i am paranoid about safety, and she is probably right. Its just not possible to be too careful.
 
Jan 23, 2016
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Adria Coral 660SP
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So sad to see this happen. Thankfully you say the owners were out so no injuries. Interesting to see the gas locker seems to have remained in one piece..:xThumb:

I'm thinking that the Fire Service would have paid prompt attention to that locker?

That or the first to respond took things in hand and forcedthe locker to isolate the bottles.

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magicsurfbus

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Oct 11, 2010
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The only MH fire I ever saw close up was on a crowded aire in Biarritz.

I was woken by a camping-cariste yelling 'Coupez votres tetes de gaz!' (close your gas valves) - a phrase worth knowing for those travelling in France.

I can believe the reason for the OP fire being a nudged hob control - ours were getting bumped on all the time, which is why we always closed the gas tap under the cooker whenever it wasn't in use. Electric adds a while new dimension to that.

At least the owners of the above MH got away - a vehicle can be replaced.
 

pappajohn

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Aug 26, 2007
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i was under the impression when the glass lid is closed the safety interlock came into being closing off the hob supply.
all too easy to accidently leave a burner on low and close the lid.
tempered glass explodes if heated to extremes

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two

Aug 4, 2011
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i was under the impression when the glass lid is closed the safety interlock came into being closing off the hob supply.
all too easy to accidently leave a burner on low and close the lid.
tempered glass explodes if heated to extremes
Not so on mine, although the dealer thought it did (Dometic hob). Unless already alight, flame failure would prevent any gas flow.
In this case, however, it is suggested that it was an electric hob. So two things may have combined to cause the accident: Turning the hob on and leaving something combustible close enough to it.

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DanielFord

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Jun 1, 2013
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It is so easily done! I have knocked the electric ring on twice in ours. The first time I did it, we were connected to a generator. I was alerted that something was up when the genny suddenly revved to maximum.
Now when we are in the van, I always leave the lid up with a whistling kettle on the electric ring, that's what alerted me the second time!
Glad that no one was hurt, just a financial loss! Could have been so much worse.
 

MikeD

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Dec 21, 2011
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Mine won't turn on with the glass top in the closed position (AT Dakota)

I am pretty sure that the picture is of a AT Tracker FB. It would have three gas rings and one electric.

The only indicator is a little red light above the knob.

You might find its only the gas that the lid switches off switches off.
 

cornish boy

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Jul 24, 2016
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Just tried our Dometic cooker (3gas and 1lecci) and when you partially close the lid both the gas and the electric shuts off.
We have a 2016 Swift.

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mike mcglynn

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We arrived at Villasol to be greeted by a burnt out caravan two pitches away from ours the couple escaped with minor injuries but it could have been so much worse as the man was blind and the new awning was ablaze and was wrapped around him it was an inflatable one and went up in seconds ,it appears they were cooking in the awning and were unlucky,their neighbour told me they has let their insurance lapse ,there is a lesson to us all
 
Feb 9, 2008
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Jesus! I do wish members would read and digest what was said in the opening post. Electric hob accidentally switched on which ignited items on top of the glass. Oh Please!

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Welsh girl

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I feel so sorry for the owners but thank goodness they were out and thankfully no animal in the van. We have accidentally turned the knobs on so now take the knob off and put it in the grill compartment.
 

Jim

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Jul 19, 2007
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Jesus! I do wish members would read and digest what was said in the opening post. Electric hob accidentally switched on which ignited items on top of the glass. Oh Please!

Read it, digested :) Strange one though, Ive owned only one van with a leccy hob. That particular hob could not be turned on with the cover down. Ive never seen one without such a safety feature, but if that is what happened then they are out there.
 

Welsh girl

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Read it, digested :) Strange one though, Ive owned only one van with a leccy hob. That particular hob could not be turned on with the cover down. Ive never seen one without such a safety feature, but if that is what happened then they are out there.

Terry turned ours on accidentally washing up last week while the glass cover was down, he felt the glass getting warm when picking up dishes he'd stacked on it ready for washing, ours is an 09 autotrail cheyenne so can't have the safety feature!
I wouldn't have thought of testing it out before this thread.
Just reminded me to take the knob off again.

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Jim

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Jul 19, 2007
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Electric hobs should not be supplied. It's become a Brit trait to 'demand' them, to exploit the provision of unmetered 'leccy on UK sites.

How is using the supplied paid for electricity exploiting? I always go without leccy if given a choice but I have a leccy hob that we use instead of our gas when forced to have it. :)
 
Nov 18, 2011
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all for the sake of £1 30A a micro switch
Wonder if the water heater survived the inferno
bill
 

M1ke

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I have just tested the glass cooker cover on my 2016 Autotrail Tracker FB and I'm disgusted to discover that you can switch on and ignite the gas and switch on the electric ring with the glass lid down. That is truly appalling in my opinion, and Autotrail should hang their heads in shame for not implementing a cheap and basic safety feature.
 
Feb 21, 2016
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Seems to me that the caravan and motorhome industry need a trade body that sets minimum standards regarding safety,and while they're about it they could cover such things as false claims re number of berths,payloads and probably much more.
But perhaps there already is one but it's toothless or corrupt.
And perhaps there should be a consumer lobby group,as its great to know about stuff on this forum,but a lot of it should be taken further i.e. to the manufacturers and maybe trading standards.
Do these already exist? Guess I may be preaching to the converted,and teaching grandma to suck eggs at the same time,if so, I apologise.
Pod.

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mikebeaches

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Seems to me that the caravan and motorhome industry need a trade body that sets minimum standards regarding safety,and while they're about it they could cover such things as false claims re number of berths,payloads and probably much more.
But perhaps there already is one but it's toothless or corrupt.
And perhaps there should be a consumer lobby group,as its great to know about stuff on this forum,but a lot of it should be taken further i.e. to the manufacturers and maybe trading standards.
Do these already exist? Guess I may be preaching to the converted,and teaching grandma to suck eggs at the same time,if so, I apologise.
Pod.
I think the National Caravan Council (NCC) is what you are referring to:

http://www.thencc.org.uk/

They are the UK trade body for the industry, but presumably their focus is providing a service to manufacturers rather than prioritising consumer needs?

But they do apparently also publish a 'Consumer Code of Practice'.
 
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Jan 28, 2008
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domestic cookers have to have a shut of with a glass lid why this doesnt apply to motorhome cookers i dont know
 

RogerThat

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It'd be nice to have some sort of "I'm going out" switch that could automatically isolate all non-essential energy sources and switch off certain things.

I can't imagine the cost to implement something like that though :eek:

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