Well That Was A Disaster

[ShencoSmoke]

A few years ago I was using a friends WSM and cooking at a street party. We had to pack up and leave quickly so we had to take apart the WSM in a hurry. I had never used one so I reached in to remove the grease pan with gloves on. One of the gloves had a small whole and when I grabbed it my finger was burned and when I jerked my hand out I dumped a full pan of grease on a hot fire. It shot a ball of fire about 15 feet in the air and singed my eyebrows. Scary stuff and in my case a stupid mistake.

 

[Wickedcajun]

Holy moley!!! Thank God for saving the house

 

[TXLX]

Wow, sounds like it could have been much worse. Grease fires can get bad quick. How do you think it got enough oxygen to get that big or hot?

 

[SmittyJonz]

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/sgd/4663826551.html

 

[Bludawg]

Well at least you woke up before ya got bbqed yourself, Perfect example of why I keep preach'n to ya'll about a gadget or trusting to dumb luck to do an overnight unattended cook. If you have a fire burning you need to be up with it!

 

[jbounds286]

post some pics of it

 

[gtr]

Well at least you woke up before ya got bbqed yourself, Perfect example of why I keep preach'n to ya'll about a gadget or trusting to dumb luck to do an overnight unattended cook. If you have a fire burning you need to be up with it!

Especially if that fire is burning in your garage.

 

[retired trucker]

Webber has a 10 year rust out and burn out warranty. Contact them with pictures, and they may replace it. They probably don't have to, but they may just for customer service P R.

Blessings and best of luck!

Omar

 

[Decoy205]

I wanna see pics too. Glad no one was hurt and you didnt lose anything else! That must have been one hot fire.

 

[Titch]

Glad no one is hurt mate, just some dented pride

 

[buccaneer]

I think you better tell us all where you are sourcing your grade 9 Wagyu briskets!!!!

 

[Ag76]

I had an unexpected grease fire start in the water pan in one of my WSMs once. At one point, it had water in it, not sure if any was left when the fire started. All of a sudden, tons of dark smoke started pouring out. I shut down the vents and smothered it out. Fortunately I was awake and present when the fire started.

As most probably know, don't ever try to put out a grease fire with water. Cut the oxygen off to the fire.

 

[smokingmeats]

The smoker was set up in this area. The raised garage door is about 7 feet from the floor and is made of wood. The flames were coming out from the sides of the smoker and nearly hitting it. So after I realized that the brisket was beyond saving, I drug the smoker to the edge of the garage and then kicked it over unto the driveway. With the grease then spilling out and all over, the fire quickly died.

The dented top grate.

The top

Mid section

My maverick/big green egg digital temp gauge.


So you guys think contacting weber about this would be worth my time?

 

[smokingmeats]

Sorry about the pics being sideways, if one of you want to tell me how to rotate them, I will do so

 

[THoey1963]

Wow, I am even more surprised that thing got out of hand without warning since you had a Maverick on it. I hope you realize you are one lucky dude...

 

[bacchus99]

My questions are:
1. Did you have the water pan completely empty with nothing covering the top? I can see where the accumulated grease would catch fire in that scenario.

2. Where you using a temp gauge to monitor the grate temps? If so did you have a max temp set so when the fire started you would have been alerted?

I almost always run water in my WSM. Running it dry has always rubbed me wrong about the potential for fire. I find it cooks better with water anyhow. If I need to go above 275F I don't put water but that's generally for shorter cooks and I'm tending it anyway.

 

[rtg]

BUILD A UDS. :wink:

Yeah That^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[oifmarine2003]

So you guys think contacting weber about this would be worth my time?

It is definitely worth a shot. Better to waste 10-15 minutes than buying a new WSM if you don't have to.

 

[smokingmeats]

My questions are:
1. Did you have the water pan completely empty with nothing covering the top? I can see where the accumulated grease would catch fire in that scenario.

2. Where you using a temp gauge to monitor the grate temps? If so did you have a max temp set so when the fire started you would have been alerted?

I almost always run water in my WSM. Running it dry has always rubbed me wrong about the potential for fire. I find it cooks better with water anyhow. If I need to go above 275F I don't put water but that's generally for shorter cooks and I'm tending it anyway.

I didnt have water in the pan. Had the pan lined with aluminum foil.

 

[jasonjax]

Pretty wild. I had a WSM for years, and I almost always ran it without water in the pan. I did 4 butts+ at a time which would produce a lot more drippings than a single brisket.

I'm wondering if the pan had a build-up already? If it did there could have been additional fuel when the grease caught.

I'd be SHOCKED if it got hot enough to hit the flash point of the fat. I bet a flame licked up the side like you suggest and caused direct ignition.

Even then that had to be a pretty powerful fire. Did you have a fan on the WSM or something or just the vent holes open?