Fridge electrical problem destroys 5th wheel

[joebedford]

A couple of nights ago DW and I slept through fire engines and police 4 rows over from us. The next day we went over there to view the damage. I have a photo but I'm not going to post it - too soon.

The owner and the dog got out OK.

The 5er is destroyed from the man door back. Front looks OK from the outside but who knows what it's like inside (probably destroyed too). The car appears OK except that plastic parts are melted. RV on the next lot has plastic parts melted too including the shroud on the AC on the roof. Surface damage on at least the front half of the bus. The RV behind has a little cosmetic damage but fortunately the gas powered generator on the back bumper didn't explode. They had the truck in position to hook up and pull their 5er away but the police wouldn't let them (I don't understand that).

Anyway, I automatically assumed that it was a propane fire in the fridge but I was wrong. This RV park doesn't charge for electricity so there was no propane on board - used electricity to cook and heat.

Does anybody know of an electrical fire in the RV fridge? I find that hard to believe. I could believe that an electric heater could overload RV wiring but the speculation is that it was the fridge.

Anybody hear of such a thing? 

I pulled the cover off my fridge and inspected the wiring but fortunately I don't see any damage. Propane is disabled on our fridge because last year DW detected a leak in the feed hose under the slide - I plugged the propane feed at the manifold.

[QCMan]

Sounds like you will miss out on a lot of good campgrounds. Do you also restrict what roads you travel because the cars may be too close to each other if there is an accident? Letting "What If" run my life is not the way to enjoy life. Trees fall on campers sometimes too but I do not look for or avoid campgrounds with trees. Spit happens.

[MNtundraRet]

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@QCMan wrote:

Sounds like you will miss out on a lot of good campgrounds. Do you also restrict what roads you travel because the cars may be too close to each other if there is an accident? Letting "What If" run my life is not the way to enjoy life. Trees fall on campers sometimes too but I do not look for or avoid campgrounds with trees. Spit happens.

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I have already been kissing out in camping since 2019.  I will likely miss out on everything this year. My time to kick the bucket is coming. 😐

[MNtundraRet]

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@joebedford wrote:

A couple of nights ago DW and I slept through fire engines and police 4 rows over from us. The next day we went over there to view the damage. I have a photo but I'm not going to post it - too soon.

The owner and the dog got out OK.

The 5er is destroyed from the man door back. Front looks OK from the outside but who knows what it's like inside (probably destroyed too). The car appears OK except that plastic parts are melted. RV on the next lot has plastic parts melted too including the shroud on the AC on the roof. Surface damage on at least the front half of the bus. The RV behind has a little cosmetic damage but fortunately the gas powered generator on the back bumper didn't explode. They had the truck in position to hook up and pull their 5er away but the police wouldn't let them (I don't understand that).

Anyway, I automatically assumed that it was a propane fire in the fridge but I was wrong. This RV park doesn't charge for electricity so there was no propane on board - used electricity to cook and heat.

Does anybody know of an electrical fire in the RV fridge? I find that hard to believe. I could believe that an electric heater could overload RV wiring but the speculation is that it was the fridge.

Anybody hear of such a thing? 

I pulled the cover off my fridge and inspected the wiring but fortunately I don't see any damage. Propane is disabled on our fridge because last year DW detected a leak in the feed hose under the slide - I plugged the propane feed at the manifold.

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The real cause for the fire may never be known. But I see another problem here. The campground, or site chose for these people to camp where all crowded together. If the other RVs were spread apart more, they would not have been involved in the fire. We never camped in any park or campground with sites crowded together. 

[QCMan]

IF, and that is a big if, it was the fridge that caused the fire it would not have mattered if it was powered by propane or 110. The part of the fridge that can cause trouble if not properly maintained is the excess stack temperature. Fridges work the same no matter what the heat source. There is another forum that has a manufacturer using scare tactics to intimidate people into buying their product which they claim will eliminate rv fires. Except no where near all of the rv fires are caused by fridges. Proper maintenance prevents major issues from happening.