What would you have done?

keith_h · 10-25-2014, 06:50 PM

While traveling this past week my wife and I spent most of our time away from the trailer mostly returning for meals and to sleep. One afternoon we came back and I smelled gas near the trailer. After looking around I saw that someone had turned our grill on while we were out. About an hour later we ran into a neighbor who said they had been smelling gas for a while and we might want to look for a leak. I responded it would have been nice if they had turned off our tank or notified the front office. The reply back was they were concerned about getting in trouble for touching someones private property and didn't have time to contact the office.

Am I nuts for thinking they were bunch of idiots for not taking some type of action to prevent a possible fire/explosion? The kicker is the neighbor is a retired fireman.

mattb · 10-25-2014, 07:02 PM

I would have done something, at the least turning off the tank. Just cause he was a fireman does not mean he's smart or cared.

Campin Cajun · 10-25-2014, 07:06 PM

Think about it from his shoes. If he goes and touches your camper and then something terrible does happen, he may be liable for it. I wouldn't go as far as calling the guy an idiot.

But I do agree they could have told the CG host about the smell.

hrlyguy2 · 10-25-2014, 07:18 PM

I think I be more concerned why someone turned on my gas for no reason......

mattb · 10-25-2014, 07:21 PM

In some states there are good Samaritan laws, If you are attempting to right a wrong, so to speak and something bad does happen you are not liable. Lots of variables I am sure.

keith_h · 10-25-2014, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrlyguy2

I think I be more concerned why someone turned on my gas for no reason......

I was concerned about why it got turned on. I even brought it up to the campground host when I had the tank refilled. There were lots of kids in the campground at that time. My suspicion is one of them goofing off decided to poke around our campsite and play with the knob.

rlocicero · 10-25-2014, 07:28 PM

I am a fireman and I would have turned it off and left a note.

Still Kickin · 10-25-2014, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlocicero

I am a fireman and I would have turned it off and left a note.

If you acted in an official capacity as a fireman, then you would have a plausible argument if a catastrophic event occurred. The rest of us would be exposed to a lawsuit by any lawyer looking for more pockets to fleece, even though the intention was well placed. We now live under the fear of always being sued, rather than lending a helping hand to our fellow campers. It's sad, but a reality.

For those who are old enough to remember, we never worried about such things.

speedjester · 10-25-2014, 08:36 PM

Culpability come from the scope of what you actually do.... If you come over and see the grill is on and shut it off... Your culpability is low..( no specialized training needed to shut off a grill). Now if you come over and find the regulator on the coach is loose and decide to attempt repair... Then your culpability goes up considerably... Bare in mind your failure not to act can make you culpable...both civilly and criminally .. .

Basically you do what you can to help..including walking over and shutting the gas off..

hrlyguy2 · 10-25-2014, 08:45 PM

If you smell gas and concerned. You walk over and knock on the door.And no one is home .YOU SHUT IT OFF.
No one is going to sue you for taking precaution. For saving their camper.and other campers plus burning down a campground .....

**Terier** · 10-25-2014, 09:11 PM

I can understand not wanting to do anything that could get him in trouble but to do nothing is surprising to me. Notifying the campground staff is pretty harmless to start with.

1l243 · 10-25-2014, 11:52 PM

should have at least notified campground staff. Turning off someone gas could ruin everything in the fridge if they are running it on propane. I small price to pay to prevent something really serious from happening. I usually shut off the water and gas if I am going to be gone for several hours.

BigJohnD · 10-26-2014, 12:17 AM

I would have shut it off, even if a risk, provided I knew it was the gas grill. I've folded peoples mats up to keep them from blowing off, put people's manual awnings up during high winds to prevent a total loss, and a few other things. In each case, when the people returned, I did approach them and explained what I did and why. In all cases I got a huge thank you.

rana · 10-26-2014, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJohnD

I would have shut it off, even if a risk, provided I knew it was the gas grill. I've folded peoples mats up to keep them from blowing off, put people's manual awnings up during high winds to prevent a total loss, and a few other things.

X2 But I admit to nothin'

If they think about it long enough they'll figure out someone was just doing them a solid. If they can't, no hard done anyway.

In the case of a gas grill... how would they ever even know if someone shut it back off for them?

The only time I'm REAL obvious is when some igit leaves their pets chained up all day outside without adequate water while they go play. So if you come back to your camp and find a half filled water jug sitting next to your pets water dish.. 'there's your sign...'

harderd · 10-26-2014, 07:33 AM

I would have lit a cigarette and assessed the situation

Don’t sweat it too much, there is a lot of idiots out there and getting upset over it will just lead to high blood pressure. I would, however; tell him you will do the same for him.

jonrjen · 10-26-2014, 07:56 AM

Problem is that society as a whole has become thin skinned, thin lipped and liability concerned with looking out for one another. We have laws too many laws, those that say what you can't do including touching another persons property, and then we turn around and have laws that say you must, such as the good Samaritan laws. The proverbial catch heck if you do, catch heck if you don't mentality of social settings.

Had you pulled up and seen someone messing around your trailer chances are you would have been on the aggressive defense upon exiting your vehicle, maybe not. There are others out there that take such a scene to extremes thought Castle Law and escalated things to a life and death level in the blink of an eye.

So retired fireman or not, society has instilled a fear in many as to what risk are worth life, limb, injury, or liability in a court of law.

I guess the other side of the question would be, if your away from your camper in a campground why would you leave the grill setting out where a kid could be curious and turn in on. Of if you leave it out maybe it would be prudent to next time unhook the quick connect so that if a wandering by person turned on the gas it wouldn't have a live gas feed supply to fill the air and risk an explosion resulting in injury or damage to others.

Think of it as the half glass theory. Some say the glass is half full, some say the glass is half empty...........I look at the glass and simple know that at some point I am going to have to wash, dry and put the glass away.

keith_h · 10-26-2014, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonrjen

I guess the other side of the question would be, if your away from your camper in a campground why would you leave the grill setting out where a kid could be curious and turn in on. Of if you leave it out maybe it would be prudent to next time unhook the quick connect so that if a wandering by person turned on the gas it wouldn't have a live gas feed supply to fill the air and risk an explosion resulting in injury or damage to others.

Think of it as the half glass theory. Some say the glass is half full, some say the glass is half empty...........I look at the glass and simple know that at some point I am going to have to wash, dry and put the glass away.

The grill is attached to the trailer. If I have to get to the point that I pack up every time I go somewhere I might as well stay home. Even if I disconnect it when leaving nothing says that same kid would not go and play with my main tank and cause it to leak. My concern was and still is why wouldn't an adult take some action to try and resolve an obvious safety issue. If they didn't want to take action directly then why not notify campground staff who can decide what action to take? Although I'm well insured leaving a gas leak is dangerous not only could our trailer have gone up but as close as camping sites are it could have set off a chain reaction. I guess the real answer is in this day of cell phones and social media many of us have just become disconnected from the wider world we live in and don't realize it can impact us too.

I prefer to make the glass go from full to empty.

I'm lucky when it comes to cleaning it. My DW and I have an agreement that whoever cooks is free from doing the dishes. Being the better cook I prepare most meals so can avoid the after meal cleanup.

Thanks for the various thoughts.

ernest917 · 10-26-2014, 09:15 AM

Are the knobs removable?? If so, I'd take them off and store them until I was ready to use grill again.... Difficult to turn grill on without them ....

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**Terier** · 10-26-2014, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keith_h

The grill is attached to the trailer. If I have to get to the point that I pack up every time I go somewhere I might as well stay home. Even if I disconnect it when leaving nothing says that same kid would not go and play with my main tank and cause it to leak. My concern was and still is why wouldn't an adult take some action to try and resolve an obvious safety issue. If they didn't want to take action directly then why not notify campground staff who can decide what action to take? Although I'm well insured leaving a gas leak is dangerous not only could our trailer have gone up but as close as camping sites are it could have set off a chain reaction. I guess the real answer is in this day of cell phones and social media many of us have just become disconnected from the wider world we live in and don't realize it can impact us too.

I prefer to make the glass go from full to empty.

I'm lucky when it comes to cleaning it. My DW and I have an agreement that whoever cooks is free from doing the dishes. Being the better cook I prepare most meals so can avoid the after meal cleanup.

Thanks for the various thoughts.

Looks like "doing nothing" isn't the vote in the lead. I also thought about the possible danger for other RVs nearby.

Would turning off the propane tank be an option before leaving camp? I don't think people (any age) should be playing with other people RV equipment but I still check my hitch setup if I stop any place while hitched up.

DDC · 10-26-2014, 12:21 PM

So the guy next to you smells gas and thinks it may be from your unit, mmmm,does nothing about it even though an explosion would at least do damage to him or his property, no brainer for the sensible everyday camper, turn the tanks off, if you are so conceded about liability call 911 they don't like gas leaks either.

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