Gas Heater Kills Couple Sleeping in Their Campervan. It Looks Almost Identical to Heaters Many Van Lifers Own.

Featured image is an AI illustration: an outdoor-rated parabolic heater burning inside a van — the exact setup that killed two campers. Never do this.

A married couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning while sleeping in their campervan at a festival in England’s New Forest, after running a gas heater that was never designed for indoor use, an inquest concluded this week.

Christopher Coll, 45, and Kayleigh Coll, 38, of Blandford Forum, Dorset, were selling crafts at a cider festival in Burley last October. Overnight, they ran a parabolic gas heater, a dish-style radiant unit that mounts on a propane cylinder, inside their van.

The type the couple used to heat their van is rated for outdoor use only but looks very similar to the Mr. Buddy heater, a propane heater many van lifers use inside. Both died in their sleep. A fellow exhibitor found them the next morning after they failed to open their stall.

The inquest at Winchester Coroner’s Court recorded a verdict of misadventure. The coroner said she would ask the heater’s manufacturer whether its products carry sufficiently clear warnings against indoor use.

Why this matters to every van lifer

Here is the detail that should stop every vehicle dweller mid-scroll: the heater that killed the Colls looks almost identical to the indoor-rated portable heaters that thousands of van lifers own and use safely. Same glowing radiant element. Same propane bottle. Same dish shape. Lined up in a gear pile, most people could not tell you which one is designed to keep you alive.

The difference is entirely internal. Indoor-rated portable gas heaters carry an oxygen-depletion sensor that shuts off the flame before the air in a small space becomes dangerous, plus a tip-over switch. Outdoor-only units, including patio, tank-top, and parabolic heaters, have none of that protection. They were built for open air, where carbon monoxide disperses instantly.

And this was not a freak event. In Kennewick, Washington, a man and his Labrador died the same way in his van: the same type of outdoor parabolic propane heater, used inside, with its safety systems bypassed. Two continents, one pattern.

Carbon monoxide gives you no warning

Carbon monoxide is odorless and invisible. Its early symptoms, headache, drowsiness, dizziness, feel exactly like ordinary end-of-day tiredness. In a small sealed van, concentrations rise fast, and if it happens while you sleep, there is no warning at all. The CDC attributes hundreds of American deaths to accidental carbon monoxide poisoning every year, with small enclosed spaces like vehicles, campers, and boats among the highest-risk settings.

How to heat a van safely

I have slept in vehicles for nine years, and have only used an electric heater inside my van while connected to power. Many people use diesel or gas heaters that are meant to tap into your fuel tank. Here are some heater rules to keep in mind:

1: Check the heater’s rating, not the look. If the box, manual, or data plate says outdoor use only, believe it, no matter how much it resembles the safe one. This single habit is the difference in both deaths above.

2: Carry a battery carbon monoxide detector. It costs about as much as a tank of gas and it is the one non-negotiable item in any van. It leads our van life essentials list for exactly this reason.

3: Ventilate, always. A cracked window or open roof vent, even in winter, even when it feels wrong. You must do this when running any sort of propane heater, even if its rated for indoor use.

4: Never modify or bypass a heater’s safety features. The Washington death involved defeated shutoffs. Those systems are the entire difference between an appliance and a hazard.

5: For overnight heat, use gear built for sleeping. Warm the van, then shut portable propane off for the night. If you need continuous heat, that is the moment for a vented diesel heater or electric heat. Our guides to campervan heating and diesel heaters cover the systems full-timers trust.

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