A Raging BBQ

The other day we had a raging BBQ. I was really excited to cook the steaks I had bought on sale. I marinated for the afternoon and then started up the grill. When I went to put the meat on, the grill was still pretty cold. The propane tank was empty. I called to ask Dan if he would be home soon to help me put on a new propane tank. Because he would be awhile, he explained how to do it. It was pretty simple. Unscrew the old propane tank and put in into the garage. Get the new tank and screw it in. Easy peasy, right?

Wrong.

Each time I tried to screw in the new tank it made a hissing sound. I did it over and over again and almost called Dan. I didn't want to bug him at work again though so I just screwed it in really tight one more time and decided that maybe the hissing sound was normal.

Wrong again.

I lit the match (our lighter button is broken) and threw it in. Flames exploded all beneath the grill. This was all totally wrong! I tried to get my hand in underneath to unhook the propane tank but flames had engulfed the entire bottom part of the grill. I called Dan to see if he could tell me how to unhook it. He couldn't. The fire popped bigger. Then it popped bigger again and the flames were almost as high as our second floor. I told Dan I was calling 911. I called and we evacuated the house. All 9 of us (me, my 6 kids and their 2 friends). When the fire trucks got here the fire had more or less died down. The tank was still hissing though and so the fire fighters removed the tank and put it far from the house. They told me I either didn't hook the tank up properly (definitely possible) or the tank was defective (I am going with that one). Anyway you look at it we were fortunate. Another house in the neighborhood had the same situation awhile back and the propane tank exploded taking off part of the house. WOW. We are grateful we are all okay. Even still, I am bugged that our nice grill looks like this. All the knobs melted off as well as part of the trash can and the broom is "toast". The brick on the house is all black also.

The irony..... The steaks turned out quite good. They were a little smoky tasting but most everyone ate them. I used the leftovers to make pioneer stew yesterday!