RV dealers concerned as more FEMA trailers head for auction

Dozens of trailers, previously owned by FEMA, are scheduled for auction this week in North Augusta. Local R-V dealers say the market is now 'flooded' with the potentially dangerous trailers, and they want consumers to do their research.

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NORTH AUGUSTA, SC-- Dozens of trailers, previously owned by FEMA, are scheduled for auction this week in North Augusta. Local R-V dealers say the market is now 'flooded' with the potentially dangerous trailers, and they want consumers to do their research.

Earl Allen, of CSRA Camperland, says the trailers are simply not designed for recreational travel, even though they 'are often sold that way.' Most of the FEMA units, he adds, do not have on-board water and waste storage tanks. Without those tanks, many state parks will not allow the campers to be used.

The trailer auction is completely legal, and actually facilitated by government wholesalers. However, many of the units have been stored in the gulf coast since 2005, and may contain chemical and mold dangers, government reports suggest (see links below).

News 12 was invited to view the trailers during a previous auction, and we did notice several areas of mold and rot within the walls of the trailers. Not all units, however, showed outward signs of damage.

"I'd say 90 percent of these units have some sort of damage on the roof, that is already causing rot, if not, they soon will" says Allen. "We had a customer come in requesting that we install an awning on his (FEMA) trailer, and we discovered that the roof was rotted in places. We had to tell him" he says.

The trailers auction and resale for about 2-thousand to 6-thousand dollars each, lot owners say. At least one used car dealer, who bought two of the units, admits they have been 'difficult to resale'. The models, and production year of the trailers being sold at this local auction, match those named in government reports by the CDC.

Allen says the professional association that represents most of the R-V dealers in our area, protested the sales before government leaders. Meanwhile, this latest auction is scheduled for this week, with similar auctions happening in several other regional cities.