We were just talking about fire

[Chopper Scott]

Hey guys. Lets just try and learn something from this tradgedy. For all we know as of now it could have been an all electric coach. Maybe the tire blowing wasn't the main cause. For all we know they may have been hauling illegal fireworks. I am going to keep searching for some kind of cause because it does mean a lot to us.  I may even email the state patrol and explain why I would like to know what happened in the event that we could all learn from this tradgedy. Never pass up an opportunity to learn something.

[HighTechRedneck]

This thread has the potential to reveal some very useful information that will help people make their own safety decisions.  It is also showing signs of becoming another train wreck of a thread with angry members and such.  Let's keep it constructive & helpful.

One possiblity that hasn't been touched on is a good possibility.  Medical oxygen on board.   If too much of it was venting to the cabin air, after a while it could make the cabin air oxygen rich and that can make any fire much worse.  Remember the tour bus that burned in Texas a couple years ago?

[Chopper Scott]

The latest...
A fire that quickly engulfed a recreational vehicle on Interstate 80 near Beaver Crossing on Wednesday afternoon killed a Florida couple, authorities say.

Witnesses saw the eastbound RV swerve and catch fire before going into a ditch and back onto the on-ramp at the Beaver Crossing interchange, about 30 miles west of Lincoln, just after 1 p.m.

The RV was fully engulfed by the time it came to a stop, Nebraska State Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins said.

The man and woman inside weren't identified Wednesday evening because authorities weren't sure family had been notified, Collins said.

The Nebraska State Fire Marshal's office is investigating the incident.



I also read in another article that was basically the same that the couple were in their 80's. I never thought of medical oxygen but that is a possibility also.

[RickB]

Maybe they were fatally injured in the rollover....
To each their own as far as the electric/propane issue.
We were awakened two nights ago to our propane detector, that thing is super sensitive. It was the 409 wifey used on the counter. We have a detector in the bay as well. Fwiw they did a propane explosion on mythbusters a while back and it eased my fears regarding a catastrophic failure.
Play nice boys or they'll lock this thread.
Rick

[cody]

The world isn't flat? omg, I've been hanging on too tightly.  My 2 cents are on the older couple having oxygen equipment and a leak someplace.

[JohnEd]

We lost two or three astronauts not too many years ago.  Happened on the pad when they had a fire.  The "experts" had deemed the interior environment to be 100% oxygen.  The astronauts made a safety complaint that the 100% ox created a serious fire hazard and any ignition would be impossible to extinguish. The argument was that all that plastic wire insulation and everything else in the capsule was required to be "flame retardant.  So what does a test pilot know?  Have you ever seen how steel wool seems to explode into flame in a high ox environment?  You all know the end of the story....they died in an inferno right on the pad and mere inches from workers that, while it only took seconds to open the hatch, could not reach them in time.   Makes me want to through up that there was never any mention of the IDIOTS that designed that system and the ones that disregarded astronauts and test pilots that were also engineers.  Did I say idiot?  Pardon me....I meant to say IDIOT

Problem with an RV or nearly anywhere else is that too much oxygen isn't easily detected.  Gasoline simply leaking wouldn't do that and neither would propane cause to get that much in the environment it would stink to high heavens and it would have displaced the oxygen so leaking oxygen cylinders gets my nod.  Tragic episode.  Cylinders of O aren't marked as "fire hazard" and they certainly are a fire hazard....not to mention an explosion hazard.

[kyle4501]

I thought the moderators asked us to keep things civil.
That means no name calling.   

[garhawk]

Oxygen

How do you explode a non-flamable substance?

[HighTechRedneck]

Oxygen

How do you explode a non-flamable substance?

Good point technically.  But oxygen is the most potent accelerant.  In an oxygen rich environment all fires burn much faster and materials that would not otherwise burn do burn. Although not technically an explosion, in that environment fire can expand so rapidly as to create nearly the same results.

[bubbaqgal]

Why take offense?

It really pisses me off when people describe things like propane as "Dangerous" ..... Gee's, what about the idiot's 

 As far as calling people idiots  >>   Go to page 18  March 2008 issue BCM  >> what hypocrite!

You want to explain just how and why you are calling Dallas and I hypocrites?

[Iceni John]

On a typical S&S how close could the fuel tank be to the rear tires?   Do RVs have plastic fuel tanks, like some new cars have?   Was it gasoline or diesel, or LPG fuel?   If a rear tire shredded and flailed against the tank I suppose this could be enough to cause the entire RV to be in flames by the time it had stopped.   My bus has thick steel wheel well liners, but I'm thinking of adding extra steel plates in front of and behind the rear wheels to protect my house batteries and anything else nearby, just in case a tire bursts.

I still think there's more to this story than has been reported so far.   Medical oxygen would accelerate any fire, but this quickly?   Let's see what the investigators find out, so we can hopefully all learn something.

John

[luvrbus]

FWIW, oxygen will blow like a bomb if it comes in contact with petroleum products even the oil in your skin will set it off if in a liquid form I don't know how the medical oxygen generators work but most oxygen is made in a liquid form then to a gas.
I saw a guy lose a foot airing up a tire with oxygen from a welding tank one time.



good luck

[Chopper Scott]

It states that the fire marshall is investigating so it may be awhile before we hear much.

[BG6]

Oxygen

How do you explode a non-flamable substance?

You don't.  However, oxygen makes mildly-flammable stuff explosive.  If there were an O2 leak which saturated the wood, it would not burn like wood.  For that matter, a high-O2-content air mix can lower the flash point of oil or grease BELOW AMBIENT TEMPERATURE.

Consider:  Gunpowder is CHARCOAL with a little sulfur in it.  It doesn't act like charcoal because it is also mixed with a massive amount of an oxidizer (potassium nitrate).

[Just Dallas]

Removed