Emergency Egress Window Maintenance

[Fred Brooks]

    Hi Folks,
Just a friendly reminder to check your Egress Windows before you set out for this summers adventures. We all have a propensity to think bad stuff happens to others while we overlook our own stratagy of what to do if we really needed to exit our coach besides the front door.
     My suggestion is to locate your Emergency exit windows and open them. Spray silecone on all the window seals and levers and make sure they operate easily. Advise your guests on board what to do in an emergency and show them the way out. (perhaps you saw the recent news video of the Dutchstar on fire and the 2 ladies who had to exit the roadside bedroom window)
     Happy Trails to You, Regards Fred

[Les Brandt]

Didn't see the video Fred. Can you post a link?

[Gerald Farris]

Les,
I think that this is the video that Fred is referring to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N5kKJjqHt0

Gerald

[Fred Brooks]

    Thanks Gerald, That be the one. Hard to imagine just how fast that coach filled with smoke and the amount of time they had to get out. It would be interesting to find out how old the tires were.
   Regards, Fred

[Bill Sprague]

.....It would be interesting to find out how old the tires were.

The video I saw showed the right front tire had burst into flame.  My guess is that a brake was dragging, it got hot and the tire spontaneously combusted.  I wonder how long it had been driven with a pull to the right, slow acceleration, dragging noise or hot brake smell?

[Bill Dean]

Good advice on checking the emergency egress. Looking at our two emergency exits, all I have is the "typical" window locking latch, albeit in red, and no evidence of hinges or anything else to support the window if I push out on it. This is a 2001 Patriot and the windows may never have been moved in fifteen years. The last thing I need is to push on the window and have it fly off onto the concrete pad below.
Any advise?  And, has anyone with a similar window exit tried to open one before?

[Joel Weiss]

Good advice on checking the emergency egress. Looking at our two emergency exits, all I have is the "typical" window locking latch, albeit in red, and no evidence of hinges or anything else to support the window if I push out on it. This is a 2001 Patriot and the windows may never have been moved in fifteen years. The last thing I need is to push on the window and have it fly off onto the concrete pad below.
Any advise?  And, has anyone with a similar window exit tried to open one before?

We have the same exact window and when we first got our MH I asked "Mac the fire guy" how to work the emergency window exit.  He laughed and said, just slide the window open and yank out the screen.  The window opening is more than adequately wide enough for egress. 

[Gerald Farris]

Bill,
There are numerous Beaver coaches, especially in the SMC era that do not have hinged windows. The fire exit is just the large opened window. To maintain your fire exit you just open and close the window occasionally. If it is sticky, lubricate the weather strips with silicone spray to insure that it is always easy to open.

Gerald 

[Joel Weiss]

To maintain your fire exit you just open and close the window occasionally.

I just have to ask; don't people use their RV windows any more so they'd never get sticky?  Your comment seems to imply what I've been noticing that more and more people seem to keep their windows closed and A/C's on all the time these days.  Not only that but many newer MH's have far fewer windows than we have.  What's the point of being in beautiful places if I can't see them and breathe the fresh air?

[Jerry Emert]

I agree but when in Florida with a temp of 95 you tend to keep them closed.  My wife is a fanatic about opening windows whenever the weather allows.   When the temp gets to 75 every window available is open.

[Joel Weiss]

I agree but when in Florida with a temp of 95 you tend to keep them closed.  My wife is a fanatic about opening windows whenever the weather allows.   When the temp gets to 75 every window available is open.

I agree about the need for A/C in Fl at those temps.  That's one reason we spent last summer on Prince Edward Island.  Temps between 70 and 80 everyday and no need for A/C.

[Jerry Emert]

Joel, next year is retirement and Gerald will be happy because he won't have to hear me say "work" anymore.  We will be joining the crowd headed somewhere other than Florida for the summer.  I need to research how hot it gets around the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone in May or so.

[Bill Dean]

Thanks for everyone's comments especially Gerald. For the life of me I couldn't see any hinges and now I'm fine with the exit issue as our windows are indeed more than large enough and larger than our previous two coaches.
Again, thanks!

[Joel Weiss]

Joel, next year is retirement and Gerald will be happy because he won't have to hear me say "work" anymore.  We will be joining the crowd headed somewhere other than Florida for the summer.  I need to research how hot it gets around the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone in May or so.

Fortunately, the elevation at both Yellowstone and the Canyon rim make for reasonable temps most of the time.  We visited the Canyon in September and it was fine; May is too early for the North Rim and it may still be chilly on the south. The South Rim is at ~7,000 feet if I recall. We were at Yellowstone in mid-summer and were never too hot.

[LaMonte Monnell]

Remember that some of us may have medical or allergy issues preventing us from having the windows open.

I cannot breathe in the heat and have to leave the ac on, with fans too for better circulation. Even if it gets cooler I have too many allergies to open up the windows.....