Hello, I'm Steve Brown fire captain with the moines fire department. During this monthly update, I would like to bring attention to a common cause of household fires in Des, Moines outdoor girls. In the coming months, the weather will change of people will begin cooking with their outdoor, charcoal and propane fueled drills. There are some important steps and tips that you should need to consider to ensure that this year's cooking, seeing in a safe and uneventful annually outdoor grill fires, result in estimated 10 deaths hundred injuries and 37 million dollars in property loss nationwide.

Eighty-Six percent of all cooking grill fires occur in one or two family homes. Another ten percent of cooking grill fires occur in apartment, buildings, charcoal and propane gas grills should be in placed at least 10 feet from buildings prevent the spread of fires in the City of Des Moines. It is unlawful to use a charcoal, grill charcoal smoker or ash or amber producing cooking device on combustible. Balconies are within 10 feet of combustible construction. This regulation does not apply to one or two family dwellings. However, it is advisable to locate all exterior.

Cooking devices are safe. Distance from all combustible materials and place them on a non combustible service. For instance, a concrete patio performing preventative maintenance on your outdoor grill may prevent a fire or other malfunction from occurring. Here are a couple tips to keep in mind all gasp. Girls need to be claimed to crease the accumulation of grease propane fuel, grill shall be evaluated for leaks and the gas line and control assembly leaking propane fuel can result in a fire outside of the cooking device and injuries to persons nearby.

An easy way to check for propane leaks is to connect the propane cylinder to the grill turn the propane cylinder on and spray the soap and water solution on the gas lines in control.

If the solution bubbles and leak is indicated in the cylinder shall be turned off and the defective components should be replaced if there is corrosion or dance on the propane cylinder and should be replaced with a new tank, many fires start from unattended, cooking or combustibles too close to the grill when starting a charcoal grill follow instructions provided on the lighter fluid container do not add, lighter fluid to a grill.

If there are flames showing or the charcoal is hot, when using a propane grill, if the flame goes out with a gas cylinder open, wait a minimum five minutes of restarting to prevent a gas flare up when the cooking process begins. Please monitor the grill continuously in an event of a fire call 911 immediately to have the fire department distinguish the fire by following these outdoor cooking fire safety tips. We hope you have a safe and enjoyable grilling season.