Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 00:02:07 -0400
Reply-To: Benny boy <huotb@VIDEOTRON.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Benny boy <huotb@VIDEOTRON.CA>
Subject: Re: propane explosion
First, this accident will spread like hell... so let's be carefull about it!
We can not judge what happen, the stove being the problem, sorry, i don't
think so, but that's me. I would blame the fridge way more, if the flame
went out anf the TC didn't cut the gas, that make sense... anyway, we will
never know. What we know for sure it's that eveything in the van is 20yo
plus! So yea, go buy a propane detector, it's a big plus and i agree. Me, i
will also tell you how to check those stove and fridge:
Stove, light them, close them... when close, try to light them again? you
have you answer!
Fridge, start it up, let it go for a few minutes, close the gas valve, now
listen!!! you should hear a "Click" after the green light is off, that click
shut down the gas valve... want to be shure! try to ignite the frige again
with the gas valve close. You have your answer.
Ben
The link doesn't work anymore, so here is the text.
'It was the most pain I've ever felt'
Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, May 10, 2007
Sue McLeod, a bubbly 27-year-old lunch-delivery woman from Saanich, was
delighted to purchase a 1988 Volkswagen camper van in early April.
It had a canvas pop top, a comfy bed and a propane-fuelled fridge and
stove. She named it Ruby Tuesday.
On April 21, McLeod was sleeping in her van outside a friend's Cobble
Hill home when propane filled the vehicle and static electricity set the
whole thing off.
"The air ignited and then I woke up and jumped out of bed and was
trying to open the door," recalled McLeod this week at Royal Jubilee
Hospital's burn unit.
"I was in a ball of fire and that's all I could see or feel."
The canvas portion of the roof blew off and the windshield went flying.
The blast and McLeod's screams awoke her friends, who rushed outside to
wrench the van's buckled doors open.
The flash fire burned McLeod's face, back and especially her hands. She
was rushed to hospital, where a tube helped her breathe in spite of a
swollen face and throat.
"It was the most pain I've ever felt in my life," said McLeod.
Surgeons put skin grafts on her hands and left elbow. Her face bubbled
with blisters and peeled.
"My face was like a surface burn -- they said I had a free chemical
peel," she grinned.
An investigation turned up a gas leak in the stove that resulted in
propane filling up the van as she slept. There was no source of ignition in
the van except static electricity, which could have been generated by her
bedding.
Today, McLeod is thankful to be alive and eager to alert others to the
danger of propane leaks.
Police told her that if the van hadn't exploded, she could have
suffocated from the gas.
"I'm feeling very lucky. Very, very lucky."
The best safeguard against a similar mishap is having a propane
detector installed in your camper, she said.
"I want people to check their propane lines so they can prevent this,
and get detectors," she said.
"All of my friends, everyone I know, has gone and checked their propane
lines. If I can prevent another accident, that would make me happy because
it's scary, scary."
McLeod's beloved van was a write-off. Still, despite her brush with
death, McLeod hopes to replace it one day.
"I want another one. I'll probably remove the propane tank altogether.
I can just keep a camping stove in the van and cook outside."
Rob Keeper, claims manager for B.C. Automobile Association, suggests
checking propane-fuelled systems regularly, as you would the engine, brakes
and tires.
"I'm sure a lot of people think because everything worked fine last
year, it will work fine this year," Keeper said.
"But you have to watch for little things like corrosion or gaskets that
fail."
McLeod hopes to be released from hospital tomorrow and expects to spend
four to six weeks at home recovering before heading back to work delivering
lunches in Langford.
She is well aware of how fortunate she is.
"Everyone, everyone has said it's pretty amazing I've survived. Someone
was looking out for me."
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