An RV – a Recreational Vehicle – is similar to a house on wheels. It is the landlubber’s equivalent of a barge, you can live in it whilst roaming the country. You are as free as a bird in your RV as you do not have to go where the hotels are located.

Having said that, the RV is also a mobile bomb carrying gallons of petrol or diesel and tanks of propane or calorgas. Therefore, you need to have clear safety measures in place and you need to know and follow them. Fire safety is of the highest importance to the conscientious RV driver.

Fire extinguishers are rated as either A, B, C, or D, which explains the sort of fire that they may be used to fight. If you did not already know it, you should not simply squirt any fire extinguisher at any sort of fire. Using the wrong extinguisher on a fire can escalate the danger, so be careful.

Having said that, some fire extinguishers can be used on different kinds of fires, so it is possible to find extinguishers rated as AB, BC and even ABC. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that all RV’s carry a BC rated extinguisher near the prime exit from the RV. A BC type extinguisher should be used to combat fires originating from flammable liquids and gases – just what an RV driver needs.

The key point about a fire extinguisher of the correct sort is that it has to be in the right place. It is no good having a fire extinguisher if you cannot get to it to combat the fire when it breaks out.

If the diver’s cab is separate from the living compartment, you should carry an extinguisher in the cab too. Keep one outside the RV and one inside it too.

It is a good idea to develop a fire prevention and fire safety course before you set out but make sure that your companions know how best to prevent and how best to handle fires in the RV. Fires in restricted spaces such as an RV, a caravan or a boat are especially terrifying and dangerous, because you are more probable to get overcome by the smoke and gases than in a house. Finding your route out of an unfamiliar RV that is full of smoke is not as easy as you may think.

You should also train your companions how to operate a fire extinguisher – after all, most individuals have never utilized one. Remember the word ‘PASS’, which stands for ‘Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep’.

This means, pull the pin, aim at the base of the fire, squeeze the lever and sweep the spray across the base of the fire until it is out. The optimum distance from the fire is around eight feet, but this is not always possible.

If you have to make a choice between saving the vehicle or endangering your safety, let the RV burn, after all, it is insured. Never put yourself or others at risk for the sake of property.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on several topics, but is now involved with Safety Glasses USA. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Safety Glasses Bifocal