A serious truck fire at a truck stop in Oregon last week brings up an often overlooked aspect of trucking life – the need for smoke detectors.
On Friday, November 13th, two semi trucks and a trailer caught fire after a van apparently parked near the reefer unit of the trailer, sparking a blaze that consumed all four vehicles.
Luckily, the truck drivers were not inside of their rigs at the time of the incident, but if they had been, a smoke detector could have made the difference between escaping the sleeper and burning to death.
In fact, a combination smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector could potentially protect a truck driver from a variety of unfortunate situations.
While carbon monoxide poisoning is somewhat rare, it does happen, and is easily preventable by a carbon monoxide detector.
Please take care of yourselves out there, drivers. And don’t forget to check the batteries!