Before You Light the Grill Check Out These Safety Tips

Memorial Day weekend means parades, honoring veterans, pool and of course grilling.

Three out of five households own a gas grill and each year an average of 8,900 home fires are caused by grilling, and close to half of all injuries involving grills are due to thermal burns, the National Fire Protection Association reported.

Before you light up the grill, check out this video by the NFPA to stay safe:

Grilling by the numbers: NFPA

• In 2014, 16,600 patients went to emergency rooms because of injuries involving grills
• July is the peak month for grill fires (17%), including both structure, outdoor or unclassified fires, followed by May, June and August
• A failure to clean the grill was the leading factor contributing to the fire in one –fifth of all grill structure fires (19%). In 17%, something that could catch fire was too close to the grill
• Leaks or breaks were the factor in 11% of grill structure fires and 23% of outside and unclassified grill fires
• Gas grills contribute to a higher number of home fires overall than their charcoal counterparts