Camper van destroyed in fire
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/07/2024 (456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A fire broke out in a GMC camper van parked in front of the Princess Park Apartments at 401 Ninth St. on Monday afternoon, severely damaging the camper and partly affecting a Dodge Caravan parked beside it.
Brandon Fire and Emergency Services fire captain Terry Browett told the Sun the smoke was reported around 1 p.m. and his men arrived at the scene by about 1:13 p.m.
“We were notified about smoke coming from the van just before the fire happened,” he said. “The fire started when the owner was trying to start the propane portion of the refrigeration unit. There seemed to be a propane leak in the system, and when he went to light it, it caught fire.”
Brandon Fire and Emergency Services firefighters put out a fire inside a GMC camper van in front of the Princess Park Apartments on Monday afternoon. The fire severely damaged the camper and partly affected a Dodge Caravan parked beside it. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun)
Camper owner Doug Broome confirmed he was trying to fix the refrigerator and then light the burner when he observed the smoke.
“I needed to fix the fridge because it was not working. I opened the side thing and lit the burner,” he told the Sun. “It was supposed to go on, but then I saw smoke coming from the top when I came out of the van.”
Broome said he made frantic attempts to control the fire, but his efforts were unsuccessful
“All I had was a pair of pliers, and the flames were getting bigger. I couldn’t get the top of the vehicle to stop it and it just got worse and worse,” he said.
Browett confirmed there were no injuries resulting from the fire.
“The gentleman who owned the camper is fine. There are no injuries or anything like that,” he said. “The fire also caused damage to a nearby Dodge Caravan owned by a resident of the complex. We had the fire out within about a minute and a half of our arrival.”
The swift action, he said, prevented the fire from spreading further and causing more extensive damage.
Browett advised residents to take precautionary measures.
“Having your propane systems checked regularly is probably not a bad idea to ensure there are no leaks,” he said. “If you’re going to use the propane portion of a camper, it’s a good idea to make sure everything is checked for leaks before you start it.”
The fire captain added the vehicles will be towed for further assessments.
“Tow trucks are going to come and take both vehicles away to the compound,” he said. “The removal of the damaged vehicles is a necessary step to ensure safety and allow for a detailed inspection to understand the full extent of the damage.”
Browett suggested that Broome’s inexperience with the system might have been a contributing factor.
“It was his first time maybe using the system, so I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it, but there was something not right in the system.”
» aodutola@brandonsun.com
» X: @AbiolaOdutola
