Almost lost my deck to a forgotten gas can last Saturday

I was grilling burgers on my back deck around 2 PM (usual Saturday thing) and had my spare propane can sitting right next to the grill. A gust of wind knocked it over and the nozzle cracked open, gas started hissing out right near the flames. I grabbed the can with a towel and ran it to the far end of the yard, then shut off the grill and aired everything out for an hour. Anyone else keep their backup tanks way too close to the cooking area?

2 comments

2 Comments

gonzalez.grant2d ago

That "hissing" part gave me actual chills lol. Propane is no joke and you definitely got lucky that you were right there when it happened. I gotta ask though, why did you even have a spare tank sitting that close in the first place? Was it just out of convenience for swapping mid-cook or were you just not thinking about it? I keep my backups around the side of the house about 15 feet away from the grill and even that feels too close sometimes after reading your story. If the wind had blown that thing the other way or if the nozzle broke off completely you could've had a real fireball situation on your hands man.

olivia_hernandez2d ago

@gonzalez.grant is right about the "hissing" part giving chills. I used to keep my spare tank right under the grill just to make swapping fast, but this post totally changed my mind about that. Moving my backup to the other side of the house now, no more close calls for me.