Moving Day

Land o Lakes Florida

We’ve been here at Winter Quarters Rv “Resort” for 2 weeks and today we will be moving.  I don’t know why these places insist on using the word “resort” to describe themselves.  I have a few other words in mind but after reading  Rick's blog, maybe I’ll just keep quiet!

We have 4 free nights at Lazy Days Campground, so we’re heading down the road about 15-20 miles.  Now that place is more like a resort!

I have read a couple very disturbing rv blogs the past week or so and both have got me thinking.

First, Howard and Linda had mentioned about a terrible fire that caused the total loss of Ed and Marilyn's 5th wheel.   Apparently a brake locked up, and before they could do anything about it, their home was destroyed.  They had a Tire Pressure Monitoring System, but it happened to them anyway.  We are believers in having this system for your rv, whether it is a 5th wheel or a motor home.  Our tire monitoring system reads the heat of the tires, as well as the tire pressure.  We  keep a close eye on the tire temperatures as well as the air pressures.  Ed and Marilyn were able to save their tow vehicle, but not much else.  What was so sad about this, is that he had a fire extinguisher, and had almost extinguished the fire when the extinguisher ran dry!  One more extinguisher and he might have been able to save his rig.  Do you have enough fire extinguishers?  Do you know where they are?

Last night I read a blog post from the Geeks on Tour and they mentioned a fire that occurred a few years ago to Gary and Karen's beautiful motorhome.  It took less than 20 minutes to go from this

to this

Scary, isn’t it?  Check out their blog to find out more information on the cause of their fire.  That issue hit home to us as the motorhome we’re considering has this same type of radiator….we think.

The Geeks mentioned that they are parked next to Mac the Fire Guy.  We have never been able to go to one of his seminars, but evidently he puts on an excellent rv fire safety seminar.  We did purchase 3 of his recommended rv fire extinguishers.  When we would go to Home Depot or Lowes to look at extinguishers, there were so many different types, that we just got confused.  We ordered some from Mac and trust that he knows what kind we need for our rv.

He also sells an automatic system that can be mounted either in the engine compartment or by the refrigerator.  These are the two main areas that rv fires occur.  It is heat activated, so if the system senses excess heat, it will activate the extinguishers.  It’s a bit pricey…over $500, but cheap compared to losing everything you have in  a fire, or your life.

One thing we all need to do is inventory everything we carry in our rv’s.  Can you imagine giving your insurance company a detailed list of everything you had after going through something as traumatic as a fire?  It is important whether you live in a house or an rv.  Of course the list needs to be somewhere other than the house or rv.  Another thing to consider…..do you have enough “personal property” coverage on the contents of your rv?  I think the standard is only about $3000.  Anything that did not come standard with the rv would not be covered as part of the rv.  Things like dvr’s, kitchen items, sheets, personal items, air compressor, tools, chairs, etc.   If you have a regular home your homeowners insurance would cover these items…subject to your deductible on your home owners policy.  So you would have the rv policy deductible, plus the homeowners deductible.    If you are a fulltimer the only  coverage for your personal items would be from your rv policy, so you’d better make sure the amount is high enough to cover all of your personal belongings.

These two terrible stories are a good wake-up call for me.  Even though I was an insurance adjuster, I have to admit, I do not have a detailed list of all of the contents in our motor home.  We do have higher personal property coverage, but not it’s probably not high enough.

We have good fire extinguishers (from Mac), we have a tire pressure monitoring system that monitors both air pressure and temperature, but have we done enough?  No, we need a detailed inventory  of our personal property and a video would be better.  You need sales receipts for more expensive items.  We have some of those, but they are in the rv, so in the event of a fire, they would be lost.  I guess a photo of these receipts stored off premises, would be a good idea.

What about you?  Are you prepared?