With Summer Season Approaching Firefighters Remind Residents of BBQ Safety Tips
GROVER BEACH, Calif. – As the Memorial Day weekend kicks off the unofficial start of summer, firefighters are reminding residents of important safety tips when having a barbeque or bonfire.
Fire officials say the grill should be placed far away from a home or deck.
Grease or buildup should be cleaned up from the grills to help reduce the chance of a grease fire.
Also important, is disposing on the hot charcoals in the proper way.
“It’s not to put them in a plastic trash bag because that’s when bad things happen we would prefer that people use a stainless steal metal contain until your sure the coals are cool and then dispose them,” says Chief Steve Lieberman from the Five Cities Fire Authority.
For Jimmy Gutirrez his family has an annual barbecue on Memorial Day weekend.
“We make sure we dispose of everything we take everything with us we leave nothing behind our hot coals we dispose of those in our home,” he says.
Earlier in the day, fire officials responded to a dumpster fire. “Someone put charcoal in a dumpster and it was able to conbust with the heat and other materials,” says Chief Lieberman.
It’s a reminder to properly dispose of coals the right way. Three years ago, during Memorial Day weekend, flames ignited in Los Padres National Park after hot coals were dumped onto the grass .