Posted on 09/18/2011 7:15:05 PM PDT by Kaslin
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Five bikers were found dead Sunday in a recreational vehicle at a Tennessee speedway and a festival organizer said fumes from a generator were to blame.
Three men and two women were found in the RV at the Clarksville Speedway about noon and there was no sign of foul play, Clarksville police spokesman Jim Knoll said.The head of Bikers Who Care, the charity that organized the event, said he heard someone shouting that all of the people in the trailer were dead. The event festivities came to an abrupt halt as ambulances arrived.
"This is a tragic accident," Bill Langford said. "It's horrible."
Langford said the bikers' group was like a close-knit family and he knew the people who had died. He identified them as a married couple who had 8-month-old twins. He was a truck driver and she was a school teacher.
The others who died were another couple and a man who worked with one of the men. All were from the Clarksville area about 40 miles northwest of Nashville.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Just a sad thing to happen, especially at a charity event. May those lost RIP.
That is exactly how a coworker and family was near death. The power went out and the gen kicked on with fumes leaking in the house. You are a wise worry wart.
I saw that. Is it corny or sappy to say it really tore me up? Honest to God...it’s so tragic. Again, I just cannot understand how something like this could happen. The fumes must be absolutely oderless
Monoxide itself is odorless, but engine exhaust fumes wouldn’t be. They would have a characteristic odor. However, if the victims are all asleep they may not notice an odor and be overcome.
It would seem to me that catalytic converters, long used on automobiles, would make sense as safety features on generators. They can cut carbon monoxide emissions of an engine by a factor of a hundred or more, by causing the monoxide to be further oxidized to harmless carbon dioxide.
Years ago we slept in a home that had a propane heater placed in the middle of the house. Sometimes the smell would get noxious. Didnt realize how dangerous that could be.
It really depends on the RV and the generator. I bought a used Class A this last spring. The generator on it is right under the master bed. The exhaust exits under the body, but is only 3 feet from the window - straight up. When we run the generator, we can smell the fumes, as the RV is hardly air-tight, so we usually only run it long enough to either re-charge the 12-volt batteries, or a coffee maker or toaster, if we aren't plugged into electrical. We leave the windows on the generator side closed, and open windows on the opposite side.
We do run it going down the road if it's hot - to run the air-conditioning in the cabin. But we are running down the road, so the exhaust is pulled away from the vehicle.
My guess is that they were trying to stay cool, and were running the generator to run the A/C.
Most RVs should have a working CO alarm in them for exactly this purpose.
No it is not corny or sappy at all.
Faulty ventilation is always the cause of CO deaths, other than intentional ones. In an RV you’re basically sleeping in a box that’s right over the top of a running engine that produces carbon monoxide. Proper ventilation is more important when the RV windows are closed.
Re-plumbing the generator exhaust to come out above the trailer would seem to be in order. CO is lighter than N2 or O2. More important for it, than for the vehicle exhaust itself because on modern transportation that has a catalytic converter and is very low in CO.
A friend of mine is an Episcopal priest in Clarksville. Don’t know yet if he new the victims.
It apparently was not a generator that was factory mounted. Trailers seldom have a generator mounted. Motor homes usually have a generator mounted, you are cautioned to keep the windows closed to keep exhaust out.
If it was a separate generator it must have been upwind of the trailer. If it had a window open, that would allow exhaust to enter.
An external generator needs to be away from the trailer, and be so the breeze will carry exhaust away.
Nothing wrong with being a bit overly cautious. Hope you rest peacefully tonight.
They make an exhaust kit that you can attach while parked that uses the venturi effect to draw the exhaust up above your rig. However, those are not without concern, as well.
Enough of one that I believe all new RV’s, not sure of the start date, must have carbon monoxide alarms. From what I know, they may not be as good as a fire alarm in detection.
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