hi sam..  people that make blanket statements from heresay, without knowing
factual evidence, is what spreads uneducated heresay, or "horror stories" if
you will....    the BA6 is a simple system - the same technology in used since
'76 -  and its highly over built as far as the factor of safety... (more safety
switches than any new LP heater ive seen) as Robert Keezer and others have
done a good job of explaining, the flame is contained int he metal encased
combustion chamber..and if something should go awry, there are a number of
different safety switches that will shut the thing off.   yes the BA6 on many
buses/vanagons are not used much, and like anything that is used very infrequently, it
can give you a problem.   if you have a toyota (example) and you only drive
it one day a year, and park it the other 364 days, yes it will give you
problems.   BA6, just like any other auxillary heater - Propex, Stewart warner,
coleman, etc, requires periodic maintenance.   any problems ive ever hear about
fires were attributed to cruddy 20 year old fuel lines..and that could happen on
ANY vehicle that is NOT maintained, weather it has a gas heater or not..
there are a few shops out there that actually specialize in gas heaters -
JB's heater service in Castle Rock, CO, , Ark Mervis heater tech. in Hoptacong,
NJ, and so on and so forth..   i think Ark actually used to be on the Vanagon
list..   Ark?

chris