May 25, 2025 • 12 mins
Mindy and Mikaela speak with Anitha Metheny/Ohio State Fire Marshal, Chief of Prevention about grilling safety!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, I'm back.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
We are.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
We're just cabin today on.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
A Memorial Day Sunday. So how many of you are
girling out, going to parties, going to cookouts? And although
in the back of your mind hopefully you're always remembering
and honoring the real reason why we celebrate Memorial Day,
But to be honest with you, a lot of people
do have parties and gatherings because they don't have to
work Monday.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
It's a massive graduation weekend as well. And I came
from a cookout of its own here just a little
bit ago before coming in. But you just were shocked
by some stats you read that we're going to get
into here in a second.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, because you have to be careful when you're grilling
out or cooking out, because you know what, we do
it all the time. We take it for granted that
everything's going to go smoothly, but it's not always the case.
On average, grilling accidents result in more than nine thousand
home fires and send more than twenty two thousand people
to the emergency room every year. So I'm going to
say a both of them would probably happen during weekends
(00:57):
like this, and that's crazy to me. Those are big
numbers burn injuries. About nine five hundred people are burned
from girl fires or hot girls each year.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
So we decided we would tap into some of the
expertise that I have. Over at the Ohio Department of Commerce,
we have the Division of Stave Fire Marshall and Fire
Prevention Bureau Chief Anita Metheni agreed to get on the
horn with us today and talk to us, and Anita,
I think you're there, are you?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I am hey?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Thanks for having me, well, thanks for taking time out
of your memorial the weekend vote. I think it's a
really important topic right off the gun. What is the
first most common mistake most people make and get out
of hand dangerous?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
No. I think it's just trying to make something work
in a pinch that we didn't prepare for. So, you
know a lot of times we get those grills out
from the winter time and the fall and we didn't
have time to prep it, get it ready, clean it,
and so we light it up and you know, anything
(01:58):
could happen. There could be birds nests there, or maybe
there was a leak and the propane or you know,
something like that. We just didn't didn't fake ahead and
get it ready and take the time to just make
sure it's safe first.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
And then what happens, Anita, because there's dirt or things
in there, does that light on fire more easily or
how does it actually happen if they're not clean enough.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah. So you know a lot of a lot of
times you'll have a grill and birds will nest in there,
or chipmunks will nest in there, and those nests are
made up of dry grass and leaves and things like that. Yeah,
so if you light that grill up before you look
in there and make sure that it's all cleaned out,
that will actually catch fire. Now the problem with that is,
(02:44):
now that it's on fire, any grease that was still
on the grill is also on fire. And what doesn't
work well together grease and water, And so if you
throw water on that fire, now you're spreading the grease
to maybe out side the grill, alsomely to a deck
or something else that's combustible. And now we're spreading the
(03:06):
fire even further.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So let me ask you something, Anita, because I've known
people who have done this before. You never know when
you're going to run out of propane, and they have
ran out of propane, but they still want to grill out,
so they will throw things like woodchips or other things
that you can burn grill, and then they'll take a
lighter and light it. Is that not a good idea?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, I'm.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Done, I have done, and I'm like, what the heck?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah? Uh, you know, as firefighters, we're we're pretty creative,
and I could totally see something like that happening in
my house. But yeah, absolutely. And you know a lot
of people think, well, I use you can use these
grills to put wood chips in and you know, have
them smoking things. But I think the most important thing
to remember is is that when you go grill shopping,
(04:02):
there are lots of different variations of grills, and so
a flat iron grill is different than a smoker, which
is different than a charcoal grill, which is different than
a propane grill. And so just in a pinch to
throw something in there that was not originally intended to
be in that grill is definitely not a good idea
(04:23):
because those things are made to sustain those heats from
from the things that are supposed to be in there. Now,
when we change that up, it gets a little hairy.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Sunday afternoon confessions. I didn't know we were getting that from.
I mean, for somebody, Michayla. No, no, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Anita would get me.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
If that was me, that would so Anita. Fire extinguishers.
Let's talk about this, speaking of Sunday afternoon confessions with
your grill, because I mean, I hate to say this,
I don't have a fire extinct WI. You're outside with
me and I'm reading some of the tips we all
put out not that long ago. This week really a
(05:07):
fire So a fire extinguisher really important to have by
your grill.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Oh, yeah, for sure. You know, in the old days
we used to keep the old days, you know, in
the old days, eighties, nineties, a bottle, right right, we
used to keep an empty bottle that we would fill
up with just water and just spray. That's not a
great idea. We didn't really do it well then. But realistically,
(05:32):
a small cooking fire extinguisher is great to have by
your grill. Please don't attach that to your grill though,
because the thing with grill fires is is lots of
things at night quickly and if you do have propaine
on there, we really don't want you to be anywhere
near that pro pane while you're trying to grab that
(05:53):
fire extingshirt. So it's really important to have it close.
But just don't attach it to your grill.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Got it.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
So just in a bucket of sand that can work too.
I mean, I don't know, I feel like about cleaning
that up after the fact, but you could use a
bucket of sand.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, I mean you could. We prefer that you use
like an ABC fire extinguisher. ABC indicates the different types
of fires that will put out. It's good for paper
and fuels and electrical and so it'll do all of
those things. The really important thing to remember is is
I've heard tons of people say, well, I'll use baking
(06:30):
powder so that or I'll use flour, or I'll use salt.
And the important thing I remember with all those things
is they are all actually combustible, and so we have
to be real careful of what we use because while
it might smother the fire for a moment, it can
actually make it worse than the long run, and so
(06:51):
we should really stick with the conventional stuff. We prefer
fire extinguishers. You have to use sand. You can use sand,
but you should always follow that up to and definitely
get that grill away from your house if if it
catches fire.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
You know, and we're looking at the results of this
survey of more than nine thousand home fires send more
than twenty two thousand people to the emergency room every year.
What do you think they're dealing with? Burns to the face,
burns to the hands. Like, what's the most common injury
that people will experience when they're lighting up that grill
for Memorial Day, weekend or any time of the year.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, you know, I used to work full time as
a firefighter paramedic, and I can tell you that I
saw my fair share of grilling injuries, and probably nine
times out of ten, what I would see is somebody
ignite themselves from like mid torso to above the knees
(07:46):
because that's kind of where you're standing.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Oh yeah, right, that's right where you are with the grill.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Sure, yeah, And so now you know you have to
kind of think too, what are you wearing? And so
we really shouldn't be grilling with something that's synthetic clothes
that will melt very quickly. You really don't want to
be wearing that in front of a grill. Grills are hot,
you don't want to melt that material, you know, wear
an apron, Wear some cotton that is better for that.
(08:13):
But that's really where you see the most injuries.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
You know what, Now, I know my husband wanted me
to grill naked.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
I'm totally kidding.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Nobody wants to see that. Nobody should.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah, your neighbors don't want to see that though, to
be seven years old. Never, no way. But you know,
there's too many moms that get out there in probably
a flowy dress to try to grill if they're you
know dress.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah. Sure, And I think that a lot of these
accidents Anita happened when we take things for granted because
we don't think anything like this will happen. I don't
think people know how common it really is.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, yeah, I think you're absolutely right. You know, we
we do it for so long that we're just used to,
you know, throw on the grill real fast. You know,
you don't have to clean up your kitchen. It's a
it's a fast cleanup. And uh yeah, we just don't.
We take for granted that it hasn't happened yet. But realistically,
with great maintenance to the grill, uh, there is less
(09:14):
to worry about. But it's always be better to be
over prepared than not prepared at all.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
And we mentioned and I don't want to go long
and say that people aren't going to have a beverage
while they're grilling, but we did mention this year if
you have an unmintenanced grill and you've had too much
to drink, that is like the worst combos. With a
flowy summer dress, it would be the worst combos. So
we really really try to hold that down while you're
(09:40):
at the grill. And need I know, we put that
out in some of the tips.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
We shared this week. Yeah, I think that that is
a great tip. You know, it's just best to get
yourself on a schedule. You know, as soon as the
snow is gone and our temperatures are not to where
I need to need to wear a park outside, I
started to do a couple of things, like I put
my snowblower away, I get my lawnmower out, you know,
(10:05):
and I change door a lawnmower, and then I grab
my grill and I clean it because i know I'm
not going to grill that day, but I'm already in
the process of you know, starting my spring and my summer,
and so it's good just to get those things out early.
Get all the grease out, make sure you open the
grill and there's nothing in there. Make sure your lines
(10:28):
are not leaking, the pro pain is full. You know,
do all those things ahead of time. It is definitely
not the time to do those when you're having a beverage.
You're absolutely right, Mikayla. You definitely don't want to do
that when you're having a beverage. Do that beforehand. Make
sure that that grill is safe to use.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Were almost out of time, but two quick questions. First
of all, you talked about having a fire extinguisher near
the grill. Is there a difference between an outdoor extinguisher
and an indoor extinguisher? And how important is it to
always keep your grill covered?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, you know, I think it is really important to
keep your grill covered. I'll hit that one first, because
you don't want things crawling up in there and making
nest and it's better if it's covered. It keeps a
lot of the dirt out as well. But you should
always clean it too before you put it away for
the season. And that's a really great practice. Get into
and as far as the fire extinguisher, you know there
(11:23):
there are lots of different types of fire extinguishers out there,
indoor outdoor. I think is less important as far as
what extinguisher or what the extinguisher will extinguish. And so
it's really important that it is rated to extinguish grease
fires because that is, you know, nine times out of ten,
(11:43):
that's that's what's burning on a grill. And so the
thing to consider though is if it's wendy, then you
may not be able to extinguish that grill. And so
that's the reason we tell you to keep at least
three feet away from your house at all times because
you can always cover that lid, shut off the fuel,
and wait for it to burn out.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Anita, you're always easiest to talk to you, and you
know I get the benefit of you as a colleague.
But thank you for coming on and chatting with us today.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Great information.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Absolutely thanks for having me appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Thanks, this is what matters.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
On six ten w
All right, I'm back.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
We are.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
We're just cabin today on.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
A Memorial Day Sunday. So how many of you are
girling out, going to parties, going to cookouts? And although
in the back of your mind hopefully you're always remembering
and honoring the real reason why we celebrate Memorial Day,
But to be honest with you, a lot of people
do have parties and gatherings because they don't have to
work Monday.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
It's a massive graduation weekend as well. And I came
from a cookout of its own here just a little
bit ago before coming in. But you just were shocked
by some stats you read that we're going to get
into here in a second.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, because you have to be careful when you're grilling
out or cooking out, because you know what, we do
it all the time. We take it for granted that
everything's going to go smoothly, but it's not always the case.
On average, grilling accidents result in more than nine thousand
home fires and send more than twenty two thousand people
to the emergency room every year. So I'm going to
say a both of them would probably happen during weekends
(00:57):
like this, and that's crazy to me. Those are big
numbers burn injuries. About nine five hundred people are burned
from girl fires or hot girls each year.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
So we decided we would tap into some of the
expertise that I have. Over at the Ohio Department of Commerce,
we have the Division of Stave Fire Marshall and Fire
Prevention Bureau Chief Anita Metheni agreed to get on the
horn with us today and talk to us, and Anita,
I think you're there, are you?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I am hey?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Thanks for having me, well, thanks for taking time out
of your memorial the weekend vote. I think it's a
really important topic right off the gun. What is the
first most common mistake most people make and get out
of hand dangerous?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
No. I think it's just trying to make something work
in a pinch that we didn't prepare for. So, you
know a lot of times we get those grills out
from the winter time and the fall and we didn't
have time to prep it, get it ready, clean it,
and so we light it up and you know, anything
(01:58):
could happen. There could be birds nests there, or maybe
there was a leak and the propane or you know,
something like that. We just didn't didn't fake ahead and
get it ready and take the time to just make
sure it's safe first.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
And then what happens, Anita, because there's dirt or things
in there, does that light on fire more easily or
how does it actually happen if they're not clean enough.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah. So you know a lot of a lot of
times you'll have a grill and birds will nest in there,
or chipmunks will nest in there, and those nests are
made up of dry grass and leaves and things like that. Yeah,
so if you light that grill up before you look
in there and make sure that it's all cleaned out,
that will actually catch fire. Now the problem with that is,
(02:44):
now that it's on fire, any grease that was still
on the grill is also on fire. And what doesn't
work well together grease and water, And so if you
throw water on that fire, now you're spreading the grease
to maybe out side the grill, alsomely to a deck
or something else that's combustible. And now we're spreading the
(03:06):
fire even further.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So let me ask you something, Anita, because I've known
people who have done this before. You never know when
you're going to run out of propane, and they have
ran out of propane, but they still want to grill out,
so they will throw things like woodchips or other things
that you can burn grill, and then they'll take a
lighter and light it. Is that not a good idea?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, I'm.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Done, I have done, and I'm like, what the heck?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah? Uh, you know, as firefighters, we're we're pretty creative,
and I could totally see something like that happening in
my house. But yeah, absolutely. And you know a lot
of people think, well, I use you can use these
grills to put wood chips in and you know, have
them smoking things. But I think the most important thing
to remember is is that when you go grill shopping,
(04:02):
there are lots of different variations of grills, and so
a flat iron grill is different than a smoker, which
is different than a charcoal grill, which is different than
a propane grill. And so just in a pinch to
throw something in there that was not originally intended to
be in that grill is definitely not a good idea
(04:23):
because those things are made to sustain those heats from
from the things that are supposed to be in there. Now,
when we change that up, it gets a little hairy.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Sunday afternoon confessions. I didn't know we were getting that from.
I mean, for somebody, Michayla. No, no, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Anita would get me.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
If that was me, that would so Anita. Fire extinguishers.
Let's talk about this, speaking of Sunday afternoon confessions with
your grill, because I mean, I hate to say this,
I don't have a fire extinct WI. You're outside with
me and I'm reading some of the tips we all
put out not that long ago. This week really a
(05:07):
fire So a fire extinguisher really important to have by
your grill.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Oh, yeah, for sure. You know, in the old days
we used to keep the old days, you know, in
the old days, eighties, nineties, a bottle, right right, we
used to keep an empty bottle that we would fill
up with just water and just spray. That's not a
great idea. We didn't really do it well then. But realistically,
(05:32):
a small cooking fire extinguisher is great to have by
your grill. Please don't attach that to your grill though,
because the thing with grill fires is is lots of
things at night quickly and if you do have propaine
on there, we really don't want you to be anywhere
near that pro pane while you're trying to grab that
(05:53):
fire extingshirt. So it's really important to have it close.
But just don't attach it to your grill.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Got it.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
So just in a bucket of sand that can work too.
I mean, I don't know, I feel like about cleaning
that up after the fact, but you could use a
bucket of sand.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, I mean you could. We prefer that you use
like an ABC fire extinguisher. ABC indicates the different types
of fires that will put out. It's good for paper
and fuels and electrical and so it'll do all of
those things. The really important thing to remember is is
I've heard tons of people say, well, I'll use baking
(06:30):
powder so that or I'll use flour, or I'll use salt.
And the important thing I remember with all those things
is they are all actually combustible, and so we have
to be real careful of what we use because while
it might smother the fire for a moment, it can
actually make it worse than the long run, and so
(06:51):
we should really stick with the conventional stuff. We prefer
fire extinguishers. You have to use sand. You can use sand,
but you should always follow that up to and definitely
get that grill away from your house if if it
catches fire.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
You know, and we're looking at the results of this
survey of more than nine thousand home fires send more
than twenty two thousand people to the emergency room every year.
What do you think they're dealing with? Burns to the face,
burns to the hands. Like, what's the most common injury
that people will experience when they're lighting up that grill
for Memorial Day, weekend or any time of the year.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, you know, I used to work full time as
a firefighter paramedic, and I can tell you that I
saw my fair share of grilling injuries, and probably nine
times out of ten, what I would see is somebody
ignite themselves from like mid torso to above the knees
(07:46):
because that's kind of where you're standing.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Oh yeah, right, that's right where you are with the grill.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Sure, yeah, And so now you know you have to
kind of think too, what are you wearing? And so
we really shouldn't be grilling with something that's synthetic clothes
that will melt very quickly. You really don't want to
be wearing that in front of a grill. Grills are hot,
you don't want to melt that material, you know, wear
an apron, Wear some cotton that is better for that.
(08:13):
But that's really where you see the most injuries.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
You know what, Now, I know my husband wanted me
to grill naked.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
I'm totally kidding.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Nobody wants to see that. Nobody should.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah, your neighbors don't want to see that though, to
be seven years old. Never, no way. But you know,
there's too many moms that get out there in probably
a flowy dress to try to grill if they're you
know dress.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Yeah. Sure, And I think that a lot of these
accidents Anita happened when we take things for granted because
we don't think anything like this will happen. I don't
think people know how common it really is.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, yeah, I think you're absolutely right. You know, we
we do it for so long that we're just used to,
you know, throw on the grill real fast. You know,
you don't have to clean up your kitchen. It's a
it's a fast cleanup. And uh yeah, we just don't.
We take for granted that it hasn't happened yet. But realistically,
with great maintenance to the grill, uh, there is less
(09:14):
to worry about. But it's always be better to be
over prepared than not prepared at all.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
And we mentioned and I don't want to go long
and say that people aren't going to have a beverage
while they're grilling, but we did mention this year if
you have an unmintenanced grill and you've had too much
to drink, that is like the worst combos. With a
flowy summer dress, it would be the worst combos. So
we really really try to hold that down while you're
(09:40):
at the grill. And need I know, we put that
out in some of the tips.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
We shared this week. Yeah, I think that that is
a great tip. You know, it's just best to get
yourself on a schedule. You know, as soon as the
snow is gone and our temperatures are not to where
I need to need to wear a park outside, I
started to do a couple of things, like I put
my snowblower away, I get my lawnmower out, you know,
(10:05):
and I change door a lawnmower, and then I grab
my grill and I clean it because i know I'm
not going to grill that day, but I'm already in
the process of you know, starting my spring and my summer,
and so it's good just to get those things out early.
Get all the grease out, make sure you open the
grill and there's nothing in there. Make sure your lines
(10:28):
are not leaking, the pro pain is full. You know,
do all those things ahead of time. It is definitely
not the time to do those when you're having a beverage.
You're absolutely right, Mikayla. You definitely don't want to do
that when you're having a beverage. Do that beforehand. Make
sure that that grill is safe to use.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Were almost out of time, but two quick questions. First
of all, you talked about having a fire extinguisher near
the grill. Is there a difference between an outdoor extinguisher
and an indoor extinguisher? And how important is it to
always keep your grill covered?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, you know, I think it is really important to
keep your grill covered. I'll hit that one first, because
you don't want things crawling up in there and making
nest and it's better if it's covered. It keeps a
lot of the dirt out as well. But you should
always clean it too before you put it away for
the season. And that's a really great practice. Get into
and as far as the fire extinguisher, you know there
(11:23):
there are lots of different types of fire extinguishers out there,
indoor outdoor. I think is less important as far as
what extinguisher or what the extinguisher will extinguish. And so
it's really important that it is rated to extinguish grease
fires because that is, you know, nine times out of ten,
(11:43):
that's that's what's burning on a grill. And so the
thing to consider though is if it's wendy, then you
may not be able to extinguish that grill. And so
that's the reason we tell you to keep at least
three feet away from your house at all times because
you can always cover that lid, shut off the fuel,
and wait for it to burn out.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Anita, you're always easiest to talk to you, and you
know I get the benefit of you as a colleague.
But thank you for coming on and chatting with us today.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Great information.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Absolutely thanks for having me appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Thanks, this is what matters.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
On six ten w
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