Fire Prevention - BBQ

7/29/2016 (Permalink)

When the warmer weather hits, there’s nothing better than the smell of food on the grill.

Three out of five households own a gas grill, which translates to a lot of tasty meals. But it also means there’s an increased risk of home fires.

Each year an average of 8,900 home fires are caused by grilling, and close to half of all injuries involving grills are due to thermal burns. While nearly half of the people who grill do it year-round, July is the peak month for grill fires followed by May, June and August.

Grilling by the numbers

• In 2014, 16,600 patients went to emergency rooms because of injuries involving grills
• July is the peak month for grill fires (17%), including both structure, outdoor or unclassified fires, followed by May, June and August
• A failure to clean the grill was the leading factor contributing to the fire in one –fifth of all grill structure fires (19%). In 17%, something that could catch fire was too close to the grill
• Leaks or breaks were the factor in 11% of grill structure fires and 23% of outside and unclassified grill fires
• Gas grills contribute to a higher number of home fires overall than their charcoal counterparts