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Re: [RC] Trailer Fire at Hahira - Michael LewisVery scary. Kind of makes you wonder what these trailers are made of... I've been considering LQ, myself, but have been shying away from the commonly-used LQ/mobile home materials due to health concerns (formaldehyde, etc.) and concerns over flammability.No idea these trailers went up so fast... I'm glad Susan had everything insured and that nobody/no horse was hurt. Mike Bad spellers of the world, untie! ----- Original Message ----- From: <rides2far@xxxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 7:29 PM Subject: [RC] Trailer Fire at Hahira Just back from Hahira. Wow. Yeah, the trailer fire this morning was sobering. I was just packing things up and started to put my fire extinguisher up under the table, then thought, "No, I should be able to reach that from the door" so I was turning to put it over there and someone started screaming "Somebody call 911!" I grabbed my phone and started out the door and saw the smoke, grabbed my fire extinguisher & took off running. The fields at Hahira about 3 acre horse pastures separated by board fences. The trailer was maybe 50 yards from mine through a fence and by the time I got there one other man was spraying his extinguisher in the door at the flames. Black smoke and flames were pouring out the door and the entire inside of the living quarters was completely engulfed. We both emptied our extinguishers, but it did nothing. People were wanting to unhook the truck but a guy was yelling that it wasn't worth it because 2 big propane tanks were mounted right beside the tailgate. There was a boom at one point but I'm not sure what went. You could hear spewing noises and the flames got HUGE so I'm guessing maybe a gas relief valve went but there was no explosion with shrapnel or anything. I called 911, probably one of many who did. The guy was awfully calm (guess that's his job) He wanted to know if the trailer was near a structure and I said, "It's hooked to a very expensive truck and there are very expensive trailers all around it PLEASE HURRY! I didn't think to tell them to cut the sirens when they came in but either they were smart or someone did because the firetrucks entered camp quietly. Turned out the trailer belonged to Susan Wilson of Florida. Jill Huff was parked in the gray trailer in the photos (which surely has *some* heat damage). Jill said she saw smoke coming out of the roof vents and opened the door. The "My Little Buddy" propane heater was melted in the middle of the floor and the bedding was already on fire. She wasn't sure which caused what. It was absolutely amazing to me that the entire trailer just WENT so fast. That thing would have been a death trap if someone had been in bed when it ignited like that. I will NEVER leave a lantern or hot plate running with Josie asleep again. It went through the back of the trailer so fast that they weren't even able to get the saddles out of the back. I mean, there were people all around, it was noticed almost immediately and we couldn't even save the saddles out of the back. That's how fast it happened. Susan said she was insured which is reassuring...and nobody was hurt...but boy did it give us all some stuff to think about. For one thing, my little bitty fire extinguisher is TOO SMALL. As Ike Nelson said, "That's for putting out a pan fire". I will be more aware of fuel left around. I will make sure I'm properly insured. One person said, "That's why I *always* unhook (could have pulled the truck away). However, if the trailer next to it hadn't been unhooked we could have pulled it away from danger. Darned if you do, darned if you don't. If you look closely at the photos you'll see the tanks & the truck seemed to be protected...thicker metal? i put my photos ups on my my-endurance.net http://www.my-endurance.net/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=1kwabxdoj45dj Angie
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