Find essential tips and guidelines to ensure your barbecues are not only delicious but also accident-free.
Barbecue safety tips
There are steps you can take to prevent grill fires and injuries, including:
- Keeping your grill clean, both on and below the grill surface
- Checking all propane tanks and gas lines for leaks and damage
- Placing your barbecue away from your home, deck railings and under eaves
- Making sure the grill lid is open before lighting
- Never leaving a lit grill unattended
- Using long-handled grilling utensils and heat-resistant oven mitts
- Keeping a garden hose nearby and ready for use
Balcony barbecuing safety
While the Ontario Fire Code doesn't explicitly prohibit barbecuing on balconies, you still may face liability for damage caused by a fire from a balcony barbecue. Balcony barbecuing carries more risks, such as:
- Difficulty for firefighters to access balconies to extinguish the fire
- Higher potential for leakage of propane gas and fire spread from leakage
- Higher potential for fire to rapidly spread into the building
- Higher potential for the spread of hot embers from charcoal barbecues with wind conditions
- Lack of proper electrical receptacles on balconies and the need to use temporary solutions such as extension cords, which cause associated hazards
Before you barbecue on a balcony, check your apartment or condo building's lease agreement or condo rules to see if barbecues are allowed on balconies. If they are allowed, there are some safety tips to keep in mind as barbecuing on balconies poses unique risks to you and fellow residents:
- Be considerate of where wind is blowing smoke from your barbecue
- Bring cylinders to your apartment using service elevators
- Keep cylinders outdoors
- Keep the barbecue clear of combustible material
- Make sure your balcony is open and no closures or walls have been installed
- Make sure your cylinder release valve is at least one metre horizontally from any building opening below it, and three metres from a building air intake
Check out more barbecue safety tips. If you have any questions, email us at firedepartment@burlington.ca or call us at 905-637-8207.