How does the fire escape really work?

[Riwright]

My wife is big on fire safety. She wants to know how the fire escape works in the 3124KS.

I have heard two stories.

1.) Remove the pin that secures the bed to the bathroom wall. Roll to the rear of the bed and the bed will pivot up, dumping you onto the ground.

I don't know if this will work and it will damage the trailer (and probably me) to test it. With two full-sized adults in the bed it would take some doing to move all of the weight to the rear of the bed supports.


2.) Remove the pin that secures the bed to the bathroom wall. Both occupants exit the bed and stand in the hallway. Raise the bed and crawl out underneath it.

I don't know how useful this is either. With both occupants standing in the hallway you're pretty close to the door already. The last person out has no one to support the weight of the bed as they try to get out.

Why not put in an exit window? It would be easy to test.

I've found some anecdotes floating around but little more than that. It seems that for something as important as a fire exit there should be some hard information. A video from the factory of someone actually using the fire exit would be really helpful. Which method is preferred? Has their been any testing of this?

[ShrimpBurrito]

I personally wouldn't do #1. While you will increase your chances of getting out of a burning trailer, you still are at significant risk of death if you are lying on the ground underneath it, injured, unable to get out of the way.

I always thought it was #2. Unlatch the bed and lift it up. As you do that, especially if you pull it inwards slightly as you raise it, it should slide downwards at an angle towards the ground, out the back and away from the trailer. I've done it before by accident while working on the trailer.

Yes, you'll already be close to the door already, but if the fridge, water heater, oven, and/or even the furnace are in flames, I'd rather head out the back.

Dave

EDIT: If the Thetford catches on fire, I'm not sure what to do!

[rvcycleguy]

Definitely #2 is the preferred exit plan for the rear bed. I've also tilted the bed up for cleaning purposes and had the head of the bed pivot and go to the ground, therefore not having to hold it up. The plan is to test it routinely so you are not attempting this procedure for the first time under an emergency condition.

FYI, The fire extinguisher is stored in an inconvenient area near the front door on my 3124KB. I probably could not get to it if there were a fire in the kitchen. Smoke alarms should alert you way before any flames. I'm pretty sure I could kick out one of the bedroom windows if I needed to.

[Riwright]

Thanks guys. Can you lift the bed from the inside without damaging the rails that the bed supports run in?

[ShrimpBurrito]

Possibly. What's more likely, in my experience, is that the bed supports will pop out of the track and the bolts in the bed supports will slide/gouge against the underside of the bed. You obviously don't want that to happen.

If you want to try how it works, just have someone outside guiding the bed to keep an eye on things so the bed doesn't get away from you. Taking the mattress out of the "bed tray" will reduce the weight of the bed and make it much more manageable, and still allow you to demonstrate the mechanism.

Dave

[dr carver]

On our '13 2720SL, there is an escape window at the bunk end. I'm not sure about the '03 3023.