Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Kingcreek on April 20, 2023, 08:28:23 PM
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Fixed a couple nice thick cut bone in Iowa pork chops on the 6.5 year old Weber gas grill converted with infrared grill grates. Took them off, cut the valves to OFF and went inside. Had a nice dinner and a glass of decent Malbec.
Finishing dinner I asked my wife (with much better hearing than me) Do you hear something out there?
She said “I hear something”
I got up to go check and heard a roaring noise from the driveway. Went out and the grill with both valves shut off was a ball of fire. All underneath the grate in the area of the 20# propane tank.
I went back to the door between the garage and kitchen and told her we had a fire. I have an ABC on the wall by the door and a Halogen over the work bench, also have a smaller ABC in the Jeep parked there.
Grabbed the 5# and hit it 2x with good effect. Everything under the grates is melted. The reg and hose was failing and the fireball doubled from first sight to return with FE no more than 10 seconds. 4’ away from my garage doors. No damage except for the Weeber.
If I hadn’t gone out when I did and if I had not had FEs within quick grabbing range I might be looking at a different situation.
The grill is junk. I’ll probably save the IR grates and maybe shop same model. Either the hose or reg or couple must have been leaking and a fire got started between the tank valve and the grill valves.
I have 6 5# FEs scattered through the house and garage plus 2 Halos, and 3 more in the barn and shed. Some are outdated but gauges are still showing pressure and newer ones are nearby. The one I used tonight was 2016 and worked perfectly.
Dodged another bullet.
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Some are outdated but gauges are still showing pressure
Had an extinguisher on one of my boats like that. I had already bought new replacements and was playing around with the old one. It showed "good" on the gauge. I pulled the pin and squeezed the lever and it went Pffft and a tiny little puff of material came out, just one little puff, probably not enough to blow out a candle. Gauge still showed in the green.
They're just not that expensive, particularly considering the alternative.
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Was the 20# turned off at the tank? I can see a hose giving way...
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Was the 20# turned off at the tank? I can see a hose giving way...
Not until I put out the fire and donned my welding gloves.
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Sounds fun.
I have also burned a small gas grill. I was heating it up a bit since it had been a while since I grilled. I went back inside for 15 minutes or so. Heard something outside, looked out the back door and saw flames. I had a few 10lb extinguishers handy and used one to put it out. The hose had burned down to the tank valve and I wasn't sure I could close it. I just got a garden hose and sprayed water to cool things down so it wouldn't reignite. It was a windy day so the risk of accumulation was low. The tank emptied out in a few more minutes. Best I can tell is the propane hose happened to touch the body of the grill when it was pretty hot and got a hole in it.
I have a cheap charcoal grill now which works pretty well. I grill seldom enough it isn't worth buying another gas grill.
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I have this thing about turning the tank off when I'm done with the grill. Growing up on the ass end of the universe where old weather-cracked hoses were the norm, it's a habit born of necessity more than anything else - you either turned off the valve or walked up to an empty tank the next time you needed it. Also keeps secondary fire issues from being... an issue.
Glad you and MrsCreek are okay, and that damage was limited to the grill.
Brad
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It also sounds like you had properly located the grill away from the house so it set anything else on fire.
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Add me to the list of people with grill fires.
I had a small tabletop grill which lived on a small wooden outdoor table on the back patio. I finished cooking, shut it down, and noticed a little dripped grease that was burning on a burner. A flame about the size of a candle. Didn't think anything of it, shut the grill, and went inside. Half an hour later, I heard something and to my horror found the grill and table very on fire. Put it out with a FE.
Good to hear you didn't have any secondary damage Kingcreek. Fires can spread alarmingly fast.
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I usually let the grill cool off then close the tank valve before rolling it back into the garage but hadn't got to that yet. Sometimes I don't get around to it until the next day or 2.
It was an Amerex A400, might be a 10# FE?
Wife was right out there with a phone ready in hand when I went back out with the FE so she got a good look at it. We had some discussion afterward about our FE supply and placements. I really have to stop procrastinating and order Element FEs for each vehicle and get something mounted on the tractor.
The fire was originating at the top of the tank, reg or hose or coupling. After the fire was out I went back for the welding gloves so I could close the valve. I couldn't have touched any part of it without them.
I have ABCs, one old CO2, and 2 or 3 Halogens (1 or 1.5#). Element will be a new type for me.
https://elementfire.com/
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I usually let the grill cool off then close the tank valve before rolling it back into the garage but hadn't got to that yet. Sometimes I don't get around to it until the next day or 2.
It was an Amerex A400, might be a 10# FE?
Wife was right out there with a phone ready in hand when I went back out with the FE so she got a good look at it. We had some discussion afterward about our FE supply and placements. I really have to stop procrastinating and order Element FEs for each vehicle and get something mounted on the tractor.
The fire was originating at the top of the tank, reg or hose or coupling. After the fire was out I went back for the welding gloves so I could close the valve. I couldn't have touched any part of it without them.
I have ABCs, one old CO2, and 2 or 3 Halogens (1 or 1.5#). Element will be a new type for me.
https://elementfire.com/
Once you set those elements off, do they just keep discharging?
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My philosophy is that fire extinguishers are much like firearms in that they are vital lifesaving equipment when seconds count. I have several models of each stored in strategic places throughout the house and outbuildings.
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Once you set those elements off, do they just keep discharging?
Yessir.
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It's fantastic you wife has such good hearing !
I do have a question though. While the valve on the LP bottle was not off, how in Heaven's name did the gas get ignited if the grill itself was off? :O
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Y'all already know this but ALWAYS turn OFF the fuel at the bottles on ANY flammable gas/liquid when you have finished using it!
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It's fantastic you wife has such good hearing !
I do have a question though. While the valve on the LP bottle was not off, how in Heaven's name did the gas get ignited if the grill itself was off? :O
Good question. I’ve wondered that myself. I suspect either the hose was compromised or the reg failing somehow and a small gas leak might have been ignited before I shut the burners off and I didn’t realize it. Or maybe had a small grease fire remaining in the catch tray (doubtful since I recently cleaned it) Small became bigger and bigger? It’s a melted charred mess so I’ll probably never know. The Aluminum parts of the catch tray are melted away. The burners were definitely valved off.