Fire at a Cassoa Gold caravan storage site

[Mikey1]

This week there was a fire at Sunnyfields Nursery in Colden Common nr Winchester which is a gold Cassoa caravan depot,20 caravans destroyed and 18 very badly damaged due to water heat and smoke.

I remember a thread with someone self insuring ,this goes to prove that no matter how careful you are accidents do happen.

Im really sorry if it was one of your vans damged or destroyed i hope you were insured?

 

[SteveW77]

This could prove to be very expensive for someone if the fire investigation finds the cause to negligence by one of the owners, ( poor maintainence leaking gas cylinder or faulty wiring )Unrealistic? I don't think so it has happened.

Steve W

 

[Gumbo]

Me

I am self insured, and relaxed about it.

Now off you go again on your gas leak nonsense. Do you know what happened at this site ?? No you don't. So please don't speculate.

Electrical Fault do you not turn off the electrics when you go to storage ?? Do you not turn off your gas cylinders before you leave a site and return to storage ?? was the storage under cover or open air ??

I assess where I store my van and if it was in a dangerous place for fire risk etc I wouldn't store it.

One thing about self insurance is that you need to be darned careful about what you do with your van.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I am very sorry to read of this incident, as it will have no doubt caused much anguish to the owners whose caravans have been affected.

Don't just curl up and accept that this means a claim on your insurance. The site has a duty of care to ensure customers property in their compound is not put at adverse risk.

The Site should either ensure there is sufficient space between caravans to prevent the spread of fire, or they should have procedures in place that physically check each caravan to ensure the supplies are properly closed or disconnected before being stored.

Ask your insurance companies to reclaim costs from the site owner, They in turn will seek compensation from the culprit.

 

[johnboy1]

Fire: With reference to Fire at a Cassoa Gold caravan storage site.

Talking to the site owner he told me that one problem was that the vans had clamps on them so he couldn't drag them clear. Spoke to my insurer who advised me to leave my clamp off, despite the fact I get a discount for having one on. Work that one out!

 

[David_L]

I have got pictures of the mess,

A friend of mine keeps his van there but thankfully was away at the time.

What a mess

 

[Mikey1]

I thought the recommended gap between vans is 3mts,i presume that is inhabited.

Surely this cant be inforce at storage facilties as i have never seen this even on the Cassoa Sites

 

[WMRussell]

In responce to the 3M comment. 3M's is not enough distance to protect any item if a caravan is on fire in the form a a fully developed fire. At three meters the caravan next to the one on fire would quickly catch fire due to radiated heat. I recently attended a car fire and another car parked about 5 m's away was badly damaged by the fire even though it was not dirrectly involved.

 

[Dustydog]

What does Gold CASSOA really give you?

"To reassure caravan owner's they can be confident that every CaSSOA site has taken reasonable measures to protect the stored caravans".

Safeguading against THEFT is imo their main objective. From what I read and according to previous Gumbo threads I am happy they do this very well.

Fire is a different issue.

Hopefully the site owners Insurers have instructed a forensic scientist to ascertain causation.

Did it ever ocurr to anyone that perhaps this fire was of a purely fortuitous nature and maybe nothing to do with the caravans at all. Could be arson, could be vermin eating through electricity cables and so on.

Gumbos policy of self insuring is certainly not defeated by this incident. But it does show perhaps that the best laid plans etc?? Short of wrapping your caravan in cotton wool and placing it in a lead lined box you just have to accept there will always be a risk factor.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[SteveW77]

Fortunately, the Cassoa gold site where I store my van will not let you on the site without showing a valid insurance policy every year, so the self insureing brigade can't park there unisured vans next to mine.At least I know that whatever happens, I will get paid out for any damage done, no matter how much the total cost is.

Steve W