Fire & CO Precautions.

All new motorhomes should come with a smoke alarm fitted but older ones may not have one. Some motorhomes will have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted but not all. Our Autoquest had a smoke alarm fitted when we bought it but the Burstner didn't. When we bought the Autoquest CO alarms were expensive and not easily available but that situation has changed so it is well worth fitting one. I bought one for the Autoquest but as the Burstner had neither I bought a combined unit from First Alert.
Because of the close proximity of cooking appliances it is normal for the smoke alarm to be the kitchen type with a silence button to cater for false alarms like singed toast and the like.

Most alarms on the market are designed for buildings rather than motorhomes so follow the manufacturer's instructions as closely as possible for fitting - and don't forget to test regularly, change batteries when necessary and change the alarm when it reaches its end of life (printed on the alarm).

The Autoquest didn't have any fire extinguishers so I fitted one just inside the habitation door and we carried one in the driver door pocket. The Burstner had two fitted already, near the hob and inside the habitation door. We added the one in the driver door pocket from the Autoquest. All were/are dry powder extinguishers. Such extinguishers have a limited life (5 years I think but Google will confirm). The date of manufacture should be printed on the extinguisher body. They are cheap enough to replace, Lidl & Aldi selling them from time to time as well as other outlets.

The rally rules of the Caravan & Camping Club require each unit to have a fire bucket - an ordinary bucket will do, it doesn't have to be red and labelled fire.

Forum posts sometimes question the value of extinguishers and (especially) buckets but it is a fact that every large fire starts as a small fire and if it can be tackled and beaten when still small then all well and good. However, the advice has to remain that possessions can be replaced and people can't. Don't tackle a fire if you are at all unsure whether you can cope.
If in doubt, Get Out, Stay Out and Call The Fire Service Out.


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Last updated: 26 May 2016