Why you never camp without propane alarm

[wmtire]

I ran across this tragedy while doing research on something else. After some site team discussion, we have decided to post it as reminder on why you should never disconnect your propane detector, and to always make sure it is in working order. It just takes something as simple as the following accident, and it's over.

Please do not take this thread into other things, nor be disrespectful to the people involved. Hopefully, this will make us take pause and remind ourselves how fast something can happen....and that is the reason we are posting this.

I know I have personally bumped my stove and accidently turned on the gas when carrying a big box by it.

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FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The accident occurred during the early morning hours of January 2, 2000. Earlier in the prior evening, Emery Thibodeaux and his girlfriend, Carla Credeur, hosted a small gathering at Emery’s camper on the Acadiana Campground. Emery’s parents, Anatole and Ella Mae, as well as Matt and
Laura Cormier attended. Ms. Credeur stated that everyone was standing in the kitchen area or seated at the dinette table. She remembers Emery and Ella Mae Thibodeaux leaning against the camper’s stove. The party broke up some time around 10:00 p.m., and Emery and Carla went to bed.


At approximately 10:00 a.m. the next morning, Emery awoke and told Carla
he was going to the restroom. He left the bedroom then returned to get a cigarette lighter. Emery went into the kitchen area to smoke. Carla stated that she then heard a loud noise followed by Emery calling her name. When she got to the bedroom door, she saw that Emery was on fire. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed himself and Carla. The couple then exited the trailer. Emergency personnel arrived and transported both of them to Lafayette General Hospital. They were then transferred to the Burn Unit at Baton Rouge General Hospital. On January 8, 2000, Emery died from the burns he sustained.


Fire investigators discovered that one of the knobs of the camper stove was in the “on” position allowing propane to fill the camper. The propane then combusted when Emery lit the cigarette lighter. Subsequently, it was discovered that, at the time of the investigation, the wiring connecting the propane detector to its power source was disconnected. Carla told the investigators that Emery did this while on a previous camping trip because the alarm was activated by Carla’s hairspray. The investigators believed that the detector remained disconnected;

[ilmor]

Good reminder of a danger that any of us could face.

[CNYCamper]

Originally Posted by ilmor

Good reminder of a danger that any of us could face.

x2

[aceinspp]

Thanks for posting. Good info. Later RJD

[5picker]

An awful reminder of how our lives can change in an instant.
Sometimes... we need reminded.
Thank you.

[oldsmasma]

Thank you for this. So easy to forget safety when we are busy, distracted or hurried.

[KyDan]

I was testing and subsequently replacing a flaky LP tank auto switchover valve/regulator. While in the testing phase I made several trips inside the
trailer to turn a stove burner on and then off as I was checking for correct
function of the switch over valve.
A bit later after I was done as I walked by my trailer I heard an
alarm. I opened the door to investigate and immediately smelled gas.
I shut off the tanks and left the door open for some time. When I checked inside
I discovered I'd left a burner on it's lowest setting instead of OFF.
No flame just burner on low.
It's easy to do.

Don't disconnect a troublesome LP detector.
Find out why it's alarming and fix the problem or replace the alarm.

[Nick M]

On our way back home from a winter in FL we stopped at a rest area on I75 for a rest and nature break. DW opened the camper door to check on the interior and yelled for me. I stepped into the camper and the propane odor was overwhelming. I found one of the stove burners on and DW admitted she may have bumped it while finalizing our furniture prior to departing that morning.

I opened a side window and the kitchen roof vent, closed the door and engaged the roof vent fan by remote control. We hung around the rest area for about 30 minutes and finally departed when our noses no longer detected an odor.

After reading the above story I wonder why my propane alarm didn't activate. Another problem to resolve in our fifth wheel, they never end to they?

[Sharon455]

Timely reminder. I am short in stature, and overweight. The microwave in both our kitchen and RV is directly over the gas stove. More than once, I have reached up to put something into the microwave and turned at least one knob enough to open the propane flow. I try to remind myself to double check the knobs frequently, but I still will come into the kitchen area and smell the propane. My husband can never smell it.

[wmtire]

The responses and thanks for this thread have been fantastic. We are going to add one more thing to this, as it is being asked how exactly does hair spray set off a propane detector.

Hair spray and many other products use Butane, Isobutane and Propane as a propellant to get it out of the can. Use of these products inside your RV is akin to opening a propane valve somewhat and can set off your propane detector alarm.

Butane | Cosmetics Info

[Bama Rambler]

Flatulence also contains methane, and there has been more than one report of pets (At least they get the blame for it) setting off the propane alarm.

There are a lot of different gaseous combinations that will set them off, but they should never be disabled, and they should be tested periodically.

They also have a expiration date on them (~5 to 7 years from mfg.) and should be replaced when they exceed the date or fail a test.

[KyDan]

Also FYI- when a previous trailer was brand new we had a few "false alarms" of our LP detector. We never smelled gas but the alarms always came when it was parked and completely shut up. Including the LP tanks OFF. It had a fairly strong "new trailer" smell inside. We decided that out-gassing of the various man made materials in the trailer was the culprit. We started leaving
our roof vent (maxxair rain proof) open and no more false alarms.

After the rig was a year or so old the problem went away.

[SeaDog]

Timely reminder and good info

[fella10]

DW only uses elect. cooking, so I removed both 30# propane tanks to get rid of that weight, plus gave me a great place to build a customized bike rack for our two bikes,.... we use small elect. heaters for heat,....... elect. can always start a fire, but it doesn't go "boom".......

[cincia]

thanks - good info for a relative newby like myself. I'll be putting "check stove burner settings" on my set up/take down list. thanks - cinica

[aspengirl]

Thank you for sharing. It's a sad story, but a good reminder for all.

[jmck1737]

Good reminder. We actually had this happen last week while camping in NC. sitting in the 5ver and DW says something stinks in the bathroom. I think it is the black tank or no water in the toilet bowl. No odor in bathroom. Must be trash. I grab trash and take outside and down to dumpster. Nope still smells. No alarms going off and we have both the factory installed alarm and a combo plug in smoke/gas detector alarm. Finally DW notices that one of the burners was on just a tiny bit.

As others above we opened all the doors and windows and aired out. We were concerned that neither of our alarms activated. Both test fine when you push the test buttons but both failed to alert us to the propane. We considered ourselves lucky it was while we were awake and we were able to smell the rotten smell.

It is a good reminder for all.

[Mrs Evans]

Originally Posted by jmck1737

Good reminder. We actually had this happen last week while camping in NC. sitting in the 5ver and DW says something stinks in the bathroom. I think it is the black tank or no water in the toilet bowl. No odor in bathroom. Must be trash. I grab trash and take outside and down to dumpster. Nope still smells. No alarms going off and we have both the factory installed alarm and a combo plug in smoke/gas detector alarm. Finally DW notices that one of the burners was on just a tiny bit.

As others above we opened all the doors and windows and aired out. We were concerned that neither of our alarms activated. Both test fine when you push the test buttons but both failed to alert us to the propane. We considered ourselves lucky it was while we were awake and we were able to smell the rotten smell.

It is a good reminder for all.

So does anyone know another safe way to test them out besides the test buttons? 😯

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by cincia

thanks - good info for a relative newby like myself. I'll be putting "check stove burner settings" on my set up/take down list. thanks - cinica

Good idea. Also, be advised that set up and take down are not the only time this burner knob problem can occur. This problem can occur just prior to going out for ice cream!

[Buck1032]

This is a very good lesson we can all learn from. Recently, on our last camping trip in July, I was preparing our camper to go. One of the first things I do is open the valves on the propane tanks. I try to always shut them off between trips. So I opened both tank valves and went about cleaning and doing an inventory. A few hours later I get a whiff of propane outside. I shut it off and investigated a leak. The right side of the auto switch cable was leaking. A very scary situation and I was thankful I got that faint whiff of propane as it had potential to be catastrophic.