The temperature from the coals, the outside air temperature, the elapsed time and the confined space caused a dangerous buildup of lighter fluid vapor. I learned a valuable lesson that day: Never be complacent around flammables. Now, I actively participate in holiday safety briefings and fire-prevention classes, where I share my story with both older and younger Soldiers. I also learned that just because I’ve barbequed for more than 25 years (since I was 12) that I’m never too old or experienced to have an accident. Besides the temporary loss of hair, I received only mild first-degree burns similar to a sunburn. I quickly gathered my senses, checked the fire and called my wife outside to help (and give me a lecture). The lower part of my arms, my eyebrows and all of the hair on top of my head turned white. I laid on the ground in shock over what had just happened. Luckily, the fireball disappeared as fast as it appeared. It was instinct that caused me to close my eyes, turn my head to the right and dive backward away from the fire. Although the conscious part of my brain failed me, the subconscious part did not. The flame from the lighter immediately ignited the vapor, creating a huge fireball. Unfortunately, the conscious part of my brain did not send the, “Hey, stupid, don’t do that!” signal to the rest of my body in time. I could see the vapor from the evaporated lighter fluid in the air about a second before I started the lighter. What happened afterward reminded me why I should have paid more attention to those grill safety classes. I was about 5 feet away from the coals when the lighter ignited. After about two minutes, I opened the cover on the grill and attempted to light the coals, but the lighter would not light. For some unknown reason, I closed the top of the grill and reached for the grill lighter.Īt first, I could not find the lighter, but then remembered I had placed it away from the grill. I thought the coals would immediately ignite the fluid, but they didn’t. I decided they needed more lighter fluid, so I doused the coals. I checked the coals and they were not burning like they should. After about 20 minutes, though, I noticed the grill was losing heat. I bounced back and forth between checking the grill and getting the meat ready. Pretty soon I’d be cooking … or so I thought. When I returned, the coals were turning white and the needle on the grill’s temperature sensor was rising. I then placed the lighter fluid a safe distance from the grill and went into the house to check on the meat. The coals started to burn well and it looked like I had a good fire. I arranged all of the charcoal into a little pyramid at the bottom of the grill, added lighter fluid and lit it. I was in my backyard, preparing my grill to barbeque some steaks and chicken. It was a four-day weekend - and about two days after the customary holiday safety briefing. But I’ve learned that you’re never too old or experienced to do something stupid. So why continue to sit through these classes? I’m an older guy, I’ve been married most of my career and I do not fall into any of the high-risk categories. In fact, it had gotten to the point where I could predict what the presenter was going to say. However, after 18 years of sitting through the same safety classes over and over again, they tend to become mundane.
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