[Egham]

That does sound strange - such low temps & with a drip pan under it. I'm glad the meat was apparently all that was damaged.

Every once in awhile we get reminders of how important it is to pay attention to the grill. I had a relatively minor self-sustaining flare-up just last week. Fortunately, I was right there.

Here's an article from yesterday's Charlotte Observer. This family wasn't so lucky, they lost their house.

Charlotte Observer, The (NC)
August 20, 2007
Section: METRO
Edition: ONE-THREE
Page: 1B

FAMILY'S GRILL EXPLODES, ENGULFING HOUSE IN BLAZE
COUPLE, 4 KIDS DISPLACED

GREASE MAY HAVE REIGNITED GRILL, FIRE OFFICIALS SAY
STAFF WRITER EMILY S. ACHENBAUM

With temperatures climbing toward 100 degrees, the Hulsen family decided it was just too hot Saturday to eat their freshly-cooked hamburgers on the screened porch of their Matthews home.

Instead, they opted for eating inside - a decision that may have saved their lives.
Just moments into dinner, they heard a sudden, loud noise, and their gas grill exploded into flames. The fire engulfed the screened porch and the back side of the two-story brick home.

The family, some wearing only their swimsuits, managed to escape before the entire home was ablaze.

"It was just so fast. So fast. How none of us had to go to the hospital, I don't know," Jodi Stokes said.

The fire displaced Stokes' sister and brother-in-law, Renee and William Hulsen, and their four children. They were having dinner with Stokes and five others when the fire started.

Fire officials believe the fire started when smoldering grease drippings caused the grill, which had been turned off, to reignite.

As the heat increased, the pressure valve on the grill's tank opened, releasing gas and making the fire worse, said Bart Fowler, assistant chief of the Matthews Fire Department. The fire then spread to their neighbor's home, melting its siding.

Fowler said it's unclear how close the grill was to the house, but that it probably should have been further away. He also recommended cooks using a gas grill stick around for a few minutes after they cut the gas off, watching for new flames. Even when the gas is cut, Fowler said, hot drippings, especially when cooking fattier cuts of meat, have been known to cause a fire to spring back.

Fowler said the Hulsens' home is a total loss. The family is temporarily staying with Stokes.

Family members know they're lucky but they're still trying to grasp what they've lost. Gone is the family's 9-year-old fish. Gone is 19-year-old Nicole Hulsen's prized art portfolio and supplies she needs to start art school. Also a casualty: William and Renee's love story, featured in the Observer in 2006, which had been framed in their living room. It recounted how when they married, at ages 19 and 21, naysayers said it wouldn't last. That was 22 years ago.