How I (almost) started a forest fire......

[bob5560g]

In July 2018 much of the west was on fire. I was leaving Bend, OR for the 200 mile trip home but luckily stopped after 10 miles to dump the tanks. It's a good thing we did. A very good thing.......

I have a braking system in my toad that pushes on the brake pedal. I won't give the details, but due to my own error, I accidentally began to tow with the brake pedal slightly pushed. (No, I did not feel the drag in my MH.)

When I stopped to dump the tanks just 10 miles later, the front wheels were badly smoking, grease was oozing out of the bearings, and the TPMS sensor was melting. A few miles more and it surely would have went up in flame. This was mid July, in the 90's with a hot, dry wind.

The Taylor Creek Fire outside of Grants Pass was the number one fire priority in America, and two days before, the extreme corner of it had been contained just 3 miles from my house in Wildervile. Towing a burning Sidekick through the forest would not have ended well. Nor did my poor Sidekick's brakes.

They were able to turn the drums and rotors, but everything else was heat damaged. Even the springs in the drums that retract the brakes had stretched out so the new pads would not retract properly. $1,000 later and I was on the road again, a much wiser person.....

And before you say it, yes, I agree, God was watching over us that day....

 

[travin on]

Glad everything turned out great for you, if you spend time camping you will always do something dumb. I have done my share of dumb things and probably do some more. The angel that’s looking after me is overworked

 

[KyDan]

.....The angel that’s looking after me is overworked

^^^ what he said!!

 

[BarabooBob]

Another good reason to have a TPMS with temp alarms. I am definitely getting a system before spring.

 

[tande]

Another good reason to have a TPMS with temp alarms. I am definitely getting a system before spring.

^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Rvdixie]

Several years ago a motorhome driving out West somewhere, through the forest, started a fire consuming thousands of acres when his toad blew a tire with the bare rim sending off sparks. It was quite a while back and if I'm not mistaken he was sued by the State (whichever state it was) but I don't believe they succeeded in collecting any money from him. Sorry I don't have more precise information but the memory just doesn't work as well as it used to. Just thought it would be interesting.

 

[TitanMike]

Several years ago a motorhome driving out West somewhere, through the forest, started a fire consuming thousands of acres when his toad blew a tire with the bare rim sending off sparks. It was quite a while back and if I'm not mistaken he was sued by the State (whichever state it was) but I don't believe they succeeded in collecting any money from him. Sorry I don't have more precise information but the memory just doesn't work as well as it used to. Just thought it would be interesting.

It was in Idaho. Here's a link to a story describing the cause:

https://people.com/archive/wheel-of-misfortune-vol-39-no-23/

Driver thought all the light flashing and honking was just normal when they were following a big, slow, motorhome. Only stopped when he saw flames from his toad.

This makes a great argument for having an OBSERVATION camera on the back of your MH, not just a Backup Camera. Side mirrors leave a blind spot large enough to conceal all kinds of trouble.

In the Idaho case the state sent them a bill for over 1 Million bucks but due to a public outcry they never collected although it's unknown if their insurance company forked over any money (to the limits of their liability policy perhaps).

 

[Rvdixie]

Thanks for supplying all the facts. I agree wholeheartedly with your recommendation that a rear view vision camera (not back up) would be a good idea to have on all motorhomes.

 

[bzac1954]

In July 2018 much of the west was on fire. I was leaving Bend, OR for the 200 mile trip home but luckily stopped after 10 miles to dump the tanks. It's a good thing we did. A very good thing.......

I have a braking system in my toad that pushes on the brake pedal. I won't give the details, but due to my own error, I accidentally began to tow with the brake pedal slightly pushed. (No, I did not feel the drag in my MH.)

When I stopped to dump the tanks just 10 miles later, the front wheels were badly smoking, grease was oozing out of the bearings, and the TPMS sensor was melting. A few miles more and it surely would have went up in flame. This was mid July, in the 90's with a hot, dry wind.

The Taylor Creek Fire outside of Grants Pass was the number one fire priority in America, and two days before, the extreme corner of it had been contained just 3 miles from my house in Wildervile. Towing a burning Sidekick through the forest would not have ended well. Nor did my poor Sidekick's brakes.

They were able to turn the drums and rotors, but everything else was heat damaged. Even the springs in the drums that retract the brakes had stretched out so the new pads would not retract properly. $1,000 later and I was on the road again, a much wiser person.....

And before you say it, yes, I agree, God was watching over us that day....

Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly!

 

[elchilero53]

I was working in northern Arizona near Show Low in May 1993. DW and I took a little drive to see Salt River Canyon over Memorial Day. We passed a guy towing a large flatbed loaded with aquariums, tanks and other equipment with a Chevy 1/2-ton that was obviously struggling to pull the load. We stopped at an overlook to take in the sights before going down into the canyon. I turned around and saw a thin column of smoke behind us. I commented that it looked like it was along the road we had just come. The whole region was under a red-flag warning at the time. We did our thing in the canyon and went back to the motel up the same route we had taken. When we crested the Mogollon Rim, the thin column of smoke a really thick column of smoke. We got up there and the east side of the road was really burning good and a large Ponderosa Pine had caught and was going up like a roman candle. The smoke was really bad. We got through the smoke and here was the guy with the flat bed changing his right front tire while his passenger was trying to throw dirt on the flames. We stopped to help. He got his truck out of the way and joined the effort to put out the fire. By this time, it was covering 5 acres, growing and had jumped the highway on the west side. I got another guy and we started directing traffic through the smoke using a bandana that we would give the last car through in each direction. A State Trooper showed up, we explained what was going on and he said the Apache Tribal Police were on the way with fire trucks and they had called a slurry bomber in. He told us to keep directing traffic. The Tribal Police appeared and started questioning us. I told her we had driven up on this and were trying get the fire under control while directing traffic through the smoke. She thanked us and told us a bomber would arrive shortly and to hold the traffic away from the fire. I sent a messenger down to the other guy and stopped the traffic 500 yards back up the road. Meanwhile, it turns out the guy with the blown tire had had a blowout and the steel rim had sent a shower of sparks into the bone-dry grass on the side of the road when it hit the pavement. That was how the fire started in the first place. The slurry bomber arrived, made a pass, then started their run. That guy nailed the burning Ponderosa Pine dead center! Wow! The bomber made a second run to get the fire on the far side of the now-quenched Ponderosa, then the hot shot crews arrived and got to work. We had the fire out on the west side of the road but they checked it for smoldering embers. They thanked us and as we pulled out, the Tribal Police officer was writing Mr. Blown Tire ticket after ticket. He was NOT happy! We saw him later and he said she wrote him every sort of citation she could think of, including unsafe equipment, overloaded tow vehicle, etc, etc. AND to add insult to injury, he had to appear in Tribal Court, which is notoriously tough on these sorts of things. He thanked us for stopping to help and we bid him good luck. At least the fire was stopped and didn't spread any farther. It would have been a disaster.

 

[Delco Bobby]

I was working in northern Arizona near Show Low in May 1993. DW and I took a little drive to see Salt River Canyon over Memorial Day. We passed a guy towing a large flatbed loaded with aquariums, tanks and other equipment with a Chevy 1/2-ton that was obviously struggling to pull the load. We stopped at an overlook to take in the sights before going down into the canyon. I turned around and saw a thin column of smoke behind us. I commented that it looked like it was along the road we had just come. The whole region was under a red-flag warning at the time. We did our thing in the canyon and went back to the motel up the same route we had taken. When we crested the Mogollon Rim, the thin column of smoke a really thick column of smoke. We got up there and the east side of the road was really burning good and a large Ponderosa Pine had caught and was going up like a roman candle. The smoke was really bad. We got through the smoke and here was the guy with the flat bed changing his right front tire while his passenger was trying to throw dirt on the flames. We stopped to help. He got his truck out of the way and joined the effort to put out the fire. By this time, it was covering 5 acres, growing and had jumped the highway on the west side. I got another guy and we started directing traffic through the smoke using a bandana that we would give the last car through in each direction. A State Trooper showed up, we explained what was going on and he said the Apache Tribal Police were on the way with fire trucks and they had called a slurry bomber in. He told us to keep directing traffic. The Tribal Police appeared and started questioning us. I told her we had driven up on this and were trying get the fire under control while directing traffic through the smoke. She thanked us and told us a bomber would arrive shortly and to hold the traffic away from the fire. I sent a messenger down to the other guy and stopped the traffic 500 yards back up the road. Meanwhile, it turns out the guy with the blown tire had had a blowout and the steel rim had sent a shower of sparks into the bone-dry grass on the side of the road when it hit the pavement. That was how the fire started in the first place. The slurry bomber arrived, made a pass, then started their run. That guy nailed the burning Ponderosa Pine dead center! Wow! The bomber made a second run to get the fire on the far side of the now-quenched Ponderosa, then the hot shot crews arrived and got to work. We had the fire out on the west side of the road but they checked it for smoldering embers. They thanked us and as we pulled out, the Tribal Police officer was writing Mr. Blown Tire ticket after ticket. He was NOT happy! We saw him later and he said she wrote him every sort of citation she could think of, including unsafe equipment, overloaded tow vehicle, etc, etc. AND to add insult to injury, he had to appear in Tribal Court, which is notoriously tough on these sorts of things. He thanked us for stopping to help and we bid him good luck. At least the fire was stopped and didn't spread any farther. It would have been a disaster.

Whew !

That is a great idea with the bandana.

 

[DouglasReid]

Just a Thought

I have one suggestion that may be of interest to you, if you have not thought of it yoruself.

You said the TPMS sensors were melted, but you didn't hear them, did you? Because you have no way to monitor them in your MH.

If you add an aftermarket TPMS, like the one made by TST, you can monitor the Toad as from inside the MH while traveling.

The temp sensor would have warned you of the problem, LONG before the internal TPMS sensor melted or your brakes wee completely destroyed.

If ur MH does not have a TPMS system you can get enough sensors to take care of it as well.

as I said, Just a thought.............and my .02

 

[TitanMike]

AND to add insult to injury, he had to appear in Tribal Court, which is notoriously tough on these sorts of things.

He must have been a tribal member as tribal courts have no jurisdiction over non members. The Tribal Police can detain and hold for County or State authorities or if "cross sworn" as County "Deputies" (as they are on the reservation 4 miles from my house) they can cite/arrest on their own. Tribal members are accountable to tribal court and non tribal members are handled by the County Court.

In areas where tribe/county agreements don't exist, the best the tribal police can do is remove the non tribal member from the reservation and issue a trespass notice banning them from the reservation. If it's a criminal offense then the FBI has jurisdiction unless the tribe is a Public Law 280 tribe and the gov had handed back prosecution powers to the tribe and/or State.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Law_280

 

[elchilero53]

He must have been a tribal member as tribal courts have no jurisdiction over non members. The Tribal Police can detain and hold for County or State authorities or if "cross sworn" as County "Deputies" (as they are on the reservation 4 miles from my house) they can cite/arrest on their own. Tribal members are accountable to tribal court and non tribal members are handled by the County Court.

In areas where tribe/county agreements don't exist, the best the tribal police can do is remove the non tribal member from the reservation and issue a trespass notice banning them from the reservation. If it's a criminal offense then the FBI has jurisdiction unless the tribe is a Public Law 280 tribe and the gov had handed back prosecution powers to the tribe and/or State.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Law_280

The incident occurred on the Apache Reservation proper, so Tribal Courts have jurisdiction. The same is true for many of the western tribal areas such as the Navajo or Southern Utes that have established police and court systems for minor infractions. For major crimes, the FBI get involved with the Federal Courts. A friend of mine was ticketed for speeding on the Navajo Reservation and had to appear before a Tribal Magistrate in Window Rock AZ. That's how I know. I am real careful crossing these places.