Big Green Egg Causes Home Fire In The New Orleans Area

Spring Chicken

We Eggheads know that 'fire' is a very good thing, but only when it is controlled.

My Brother-in-Law sent this story to us and now I'm sharing it with you guys as just one more reminder that even Eggheads sometime forget just how important it is to keep a close eye on their Egg when it is in use. It only takes less than a second to go from controlled to uncontrolled.

Also, buy a good extinguisher and keep it handy.

Spring "Recipe Number 1 - Safety" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2015/01/cooking_to_blame_in_pair_of_ke.html#incart_story_packa ge

Tjcoley

@nolaegghead‌ I hope you and all Eggheads down there are safe.

piney

Not Good!! I feel sorry for these families I can't imagine a house fire. 

henapple

How did the heat off of a bge ignite a roof?

Spaightlabs

Been there, done that...We will be back in our home in 2 weeks, 7 months after our egg fire.

Hope both families are ok and the recovery goes smoothly.   

caliking

That's a terrible thing to happen. From the news website it sounds like nobody was hurt. I don't think that's nola's hood either.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Spaightlabs said:

Been there, done that...We will be back in our home in 2 weeks, 7 months after our egg fire.

Hope both families are ok and the recovery goes smoothly.   

whoa! How did I miss this? Glad to hear you guys are ok. I was super close last year as well. Table burned down but we had composite decking that melted but didn't catch fire.

SaskNortherner

Hmm. I have a completely closed in deck with carpet on the floor. My Egg is in a stainless steel table and I am real carefull.... I did slightly melt my vinyl siding with a radiant heater the other day doing wings though. It was about three feet away but I had it turned up a bit too far. Egging in Canada in January.

ummgood

I have to say this scares the crap out of me. I have my egg and Weber on a wood deck. My lot is very sloped and my foundation is 16 feet tall on one side of the house with the deck. I really don't have a good level surface besides my deck to grill/smoke on. I have my egg in a nest. I am guessing lots of grease build up probably is a problem. How often do people clean their eggs?

Zmokin

Spring Chicken said:

We Eggheads know that 'fire' is a very good thing, but only when it is controlled.

My Brother-in-Law sent this story to us and now I'm sharing it with you guys as just one more reminder that even Eggheads sometime forget just how important it is to keep a close eye on their Egg when it is in use. It only takes less than a second to go from controlled to uncontrolled.

Also, buy a good extinguisher and keep it handy.

Spring "Recipe Number 1 - Safety" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2015/01/cooking_to_blame_in_pair_of_ke.html#incart_story_packa ge

I would recommend buying more than 1.  the time it can take for you to go get a fire extinguisher at the far end of the house can make things significantly worse by the time you get back.  I keep a fire extinguisher very near my kitchen, one in the laundry room, one in the garage, and one outside with the BBQ. 

Spring Chicken

Zmoking, we have them all around the house too, but they are the small ones.  As they run out of the 'Green' and into the 'Red' I change them to a much larger and better extinguishers.  The last one was for my outdoor kitchen, and hangs on the wall by the door.  There's also a handy garden hose within six feet and a second one about twelve feet away.  Two more garden hoses on separate water lines are within fifty feet with plenty of hose to reach the fire.  As an extra precaution, I have a phone in the outdoor kitchen that is easy to reach.  I also keep a frig full of beer and soft drinks to keep me hydrated, both when I'm cooking and if and when there's a fire..  I do this because my outdoor kitchen, affectionately known as The Chicken Coop, is about 95% wood.

NPHuskerFL

henapple said:

How did the heat off of a bge ignite a roof?

I would guess it was a lean-to with maybe a low overhang or vinyl. That is sheer guess though.

KiterTodd

Spring Chicken said:

Zmoking, we have them all around the house too, but they are the small ones.  As they run out of the 'Green' and into the 'Red' I change them to a much larger and better extinguishers.  The last one was for my outdoor kitchen, and hangs on the wall by the door.  There's also a handy garden hose within six feet and a second one about twelve feet away.  Two more garden hoses on separate water lines are within fifty feet with plenty of hose to reach the fire...

Good thread, thanks for sharing.  I need to buy more extinguishers so this is a good reminder.

I was on a chartered sailboat recently and when the captain was giving us a safety briefing there was an educational bit on the extinguishers.  He had the same small ones in the cabins that we do in the kitchen.  His point was that those extinguishers are not designed to put out a large fire, they can just beat it down enough for you to get past it to safety.  So don't try to fight it if you are backed into a corner (or a boat cabin).  Use it to get out.  It will run out quickly.

I know they can put out small kitchen fires and such, but I'm guessing would not do much if your egg and deck or siding catches on fire.   Need to have that hose or other extinguishers nearby.  Or bigger ones. 

RRP

+++ on having the small extinguishers handy. It was nearly a year ago that I discovered a working fire inside my freezer side in our kitchen refrigerator. It was right before we were headed to bed. Turned out the ice maker cube dumper caught on fire. After much hassle GE replaced the whole refrig even though it was 5 years out of warranty! Fires are NOT supposed to happen like that an GE knew it! Just the same we were very lucky and I'm not sure where we would be today had I not caught it and hit it with a nearby extinguisher!

nolaegghead

Tjcoley said:

@nolaegghead‌ I hope you and all Eggheads down there are safe.

I don't know who that is.   Sad story.  I hope the egg was still OK and I'm glad no one was hurt.

Carolina Q

henapple said:

How did the heat off of a bge ignite a roof?

Beats me man...

Or worse...

Sardonicus

nolaegghead said:

Tjcoley said:

@nolaegghead‌ I hope you and all Eggheads down there are safe.

I don't know who that is.   Sad story.  I hope the egg was still OK and I'm glad no one was hurt.

I notice that you mention the safety of the Egg #:-S

 before you express concern for the humans involved.

That makes sense 'cause Eggs don't start fires.  People do.

B-)

Grillmagic

Be safe everyone, I have had sparks fly into my garage with my egg 10 ft away from my garage door

nolaegghead

@Sardonicus - Very observant.  I am a misanthrope and an egg-o-phile.

Sardonicus

nolaegghead said:

@Sardonicus - Very observant.  I am a misanthrope . . .

Understood, @NOLAEggHead.
 \m/ To know us is to hate us.