What would you do in this situation (RV on fire)?

What would you do in this situation?
Not sure of the correct answer.

Re: What would you do in this situation?

Interesting brand given the circumstances. Very sorry for their situation, hopefully nobody was hurt.

I would, after getting the family to safety, attempt to unhook the truck. That means it's probably going to drop on the box sides as I pull away, but cheaper to fix than total loss on the truck. That's a definite maybe attempt to do so. If it was remotely sketchy, I'd be out of there calling the insurance agent from a safe distance.

Wonder if it was a fridge failure/fire that started it...

Re: What would you do in this situation?

Drop the trailer and get the heck away from it. If you can't drop it, run like heck away. No possession is worth harm to yourself or family.

Re: What would you do in this situation?

We had a wheel bearing go out last January on our previous trailer (2013 Heartland Trail Runner bumper pull) while driving through Phoenix.

Had it not been for a passing motorist pointing at our trailer to alert us . . . we were probably less than a minute or two away from that happening to us!

As we rounded the next exit ramp to get off of the highway . . . we saw a huge plum of smoke billowing off of the wheel . . . never saw the smoke in the mirrors while on the highway!

It is hard to say what one would do in a situation like the one pictured above . . .

That trailer is too far engulfed to go anywhere near it!

Re: What would you do in this situation?

I'd leave the entire setup. I have insurance.
Hate to see that happen to anyone.
Aptly named trailer though.

Peace
Dave

Re: What would you do in this situation?

cookie said:

I'd leave the entire setup. I have insurance.
Hate to see that happen to anyone.
Aptly named trailer though.

Peace
Dave

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I know Cookie has the right idea, but I can't imagine not trying to save my truck if at all possible.

Re: What would you do in this situation?

family out,,,unhook,,,and bail.....

I would make sure we were all safe including our four legged members and get as far away from it as possible and just let it burn that's what insurance is for. I rather collect on the auto insurance money than the life insurance money anytime. Material things are replaceable but your family is not.

I would have unhooked the truck after family was out of harm way.

While we're debating the do's and don'ts of this situation, everyone is playing this out in their mind to formulate their answer....... let me remind you, with the trailer that engulfed, you have propane tanks on board while you're trying to get your trailer unhooked to save the truck. No way, that much fire, I'm going to go anywhere near it, truck or no truck. I'm going to get me and wife OUT and get very far away before anything starts to explode.

teasac69 said:

While we're debating the do's and don'ts of this situation, everyone is playing this out in their mind to formulate their answer....... let me remind you, with the trailer that engulfed, you have propane tanks on board while you're trying to get your trailer unhooked to save the truck. No way, that much fire, I'm going to go anywhere near it, truck or no truck. I'm going to get me and wife OUT and get very far away before anything starts to explode.

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DITTO! Everything except my family and fur-babies is replaceable.

I would agree with those that say unhook the truck but only if SAFE to do so, say early in the fire. With the one pictured, just get the heck out of there, flames way to close to propane.

Since I padlock my hitch with a fire like that I would make sure Peggy and Molly are safely out and then grab anything in the truck I want to save (e.g., medlist, travel cards, anything I could get quickly) and then get as far away as possible. At the Goshen propane seminar they told us the propane tanks are designed so they won't actually explode, but they will sure spew gas and flame all over the area which would seriously exacerbate an already bad situation and would probably engulf the TV in flames in an instant.

Although not the reason, it's a good thing our cats are in carriers in the backseat of the truck when they're with us. All real valuables are in there, too, so grabbing them wouldn't take much time. As for disconnecting the rig to save the truck, depends on the actual situation at the time and how you react to an emergency. Some people will jump into action, others will freeze. Might be enough time to disconnect, might not. My training says to do a quick size-up and determine a course of action. The course of action may be to do nothing at all (to save the truck).

From the photo, it appears that the rig has been burning for some time, it didn't just explode into flames like that.

I have Pyrophobia, so running away would be my initial reaction!

But, I can say, dear hubby got to experience something similar in 2014. He was driving a 26' box truck for work (he's a high school Band Director, specializing in Percussion), and they were returning from the Texas All State Solo & Ensemble Competition. The box truck was full of percussion instruments. He was on the interstate, in a somewhat rural area, when he experienced a blowout on the inner dual of the truck. By the time he got it to the shoulder, the tire/wheel well was on fire. He immediately grabbed a fire extinguisher from the truck cab and tried to extinguish the flames, but the extinguisher did not have enough pressure. He ran back and grabbed a small cooler which had melted ice and water, and tried that. Unfortunately, the fire was too fast and caught the box on fire. Someone had already called 911, but it was an excruciating time waiting for the fire department while those expensive percussion instruments were in peril. All you can do is watch. :'-( Fire dept got the fire out, it did not get to the cab of the truck.