by Holly Tribe
Hardly a week goes by without the Caravan Times newsdesk receiving reports about a caravan being destroyed by fire. And with the driest Spring on record, the threat of fire in the open countryside is an ever present worry for caravan owners.
Nothing illustrates this better than a post recently submitted in the Caravan Times forum by reader, Niel J.
As Niel left work yesterday afternoon travelling along in Southampton, he came across an abandoned caravan in a former school playing-field on the outskirts of Eastleigh. After noticing smoke rising from the vehicle he phoned the fire brigade and managed to photograph the ensuing destruction as the blaze tore through the caravan, burning it to the ground in a matter of minutes.
“I left work late [yesterday] afternoon, and stopping to photograph the 
rubbish left behind by some ‘caravan dwelling, fly tippers’ I spotted some wisps of smoke from a caravan left behind,” he explained.
Niel acted quickly to contact the fire brigade, who arrived in time to douse the remaining embers and stop the fire from spreading into the surrounding greenery: “It took about 7½ minutes from the first visible flame to total destruction and in less than ten minutes it was completely burnt out. The Fire Brigade arrived fairly quickly after my call but could only damp down the remains, and recover a gas cylinder left in the ‘van.”
These pictures, reprinted with the permission of NielJ, show the caravan before and after the blaze.
Caravans are constructed using a high ratio of combustible materials and the threat of contiguous fire between rigs at caravan parks poses a very real danger. This recent outbreak offers a stark reminder to caravanners to remain vigilant – turn off gas and electrical appliances when not in use and keep the caravan well ventilated.
