According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), there were 10,600 residential grill fires annually in the US between 2014 and 2018. Most of these fires involved propane grills. I probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to this statistic prior to July 17, 2021, when my own house burned down. I offer this advice in the hope that others may be spared this fate.

Twenty-pound propane cylinders are regulated by an agency of the Federal government, the PHMSA. Each cylinder has a collar that functions as a handle but also has a series of codes stamped on it which correspond to the manufacturer, the date of manufacture, the date of certification, dates of recertification and the recertification identification number (RIN).

By law, each cylinder must be certified twelve years after its date of manufacture and every five years thereafter in order to be refilled or sold. The recertification date is followed by an “E”.

The propane cylinder that leaked and cause my fire was a two times loser. It was manufactured “08 02” and recertified “05 16 E”. I was apprehensive about accepting this very worn, almost nineteen-year-old cylinder in a propane exchange at my local supermarket but thought that its appearance was only of cosmetic significance. I didn’t know about the codes at that time.

The ensuing propane leak resulted in a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE), which blew the roof off the East side of my house, sent metal shrapnel hundreds of feet down the hill, and turned my beautiful home into a fireball.

Before accepting any propane cylinder in an exchange, always check the dates on the collar. Don’t accept one that is worn, rusted, damaged in any way or not in compliance. I would also advise you not to accept a cylinder that is older than seventeen years because the service valve portion of the OPD valve assembly relies on friction to close and is subject to leak after repeated use.

Other prudent advice offered by the NFPA are to avoid grilling in areas near combustibles, or on windy days. Most home grill fires occur on wooden decks. Keep your grill clean and well maintained. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby, check for propane leaks before lighting the grill using a spray bottle of soapy water or a handheld electronic leak detector. Don’t ignite your grill if you smell a rotten egg odor or hear hissing or humming sounds. Don’t light the grill with the hood closed. If the grill is hard to start, avoid repeated ignition attempts without allowing sufficient time for the vapor to disperse. Don’t store propane cylinders in wet or hot environments, indoors or in the garage.

It is reprehensible that the propane vendors provide so little safety information at the point of sale, rather their signs read, “Don’t run out, buy a spare.”

My purpose in writing this article is to promote propane grill safety, not to discourage home grilling. Please don’t become complacent, like I was. Remember propane cylinders are potentially dangerous and deserve the same respect a prudent person would afford a loaded firearm. There is good reason for them to be regulated by the PHMSA. Just as passenger airline crashes in the US are rare events, so are BLEVE but both are catastrophic, and most are preventable.

Joel C. Boulder is a retired medical doctor and former Volunteer Medical Director of Doctors Care. The opinions expressed are entirely his own except for those previously stated by the NFPA.

I am a retired medical doctor and former volunteer medical director of Doctors Care.

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