"I received my order the other day and wanted to say thank you very much for the extra ACME gas stop.  It was a pleasure talking with you and I hope I was able to offer you some valid insights.

I have searched high and low for pictures of the story, but it seems like we didn't take any...I guess we were more worried at the time with getting the fire put out. Feel free to use my story on your website.

I used to be "One of those guys". Yes, one of those folks who has done quite a bit with camping, having owned several RV rigs (travel trailers, fifth wheels, motor homes and the like).  With all that comes the experience and yet never having a real issue, it also comes with a sense of over-confidence that can sometimes naturally occur when you have a lot of experience in some areas and have never had an issue.  Well, let me tell you...I was way too complacent and the story below reminds me to always have the respect and care of propane fuel and associated accessories/equipment.

It was like any other Sunday could have gone...  My wife Wendy had cooked some bacon outside on our BBQ grille.  We had it pushed away from the house in more recent times, but lately, the wind had been blowing a little more than one wanted when BBQ'ing, so she had it pushed up nearer to the house under the roof eve.  Once she had the bacon cooked, she turned off the grill and came inside.  We had cooked some eggs and was about to take some bacon off of the plate she had used outside, which was now on our kitchen counter.  When she turned to get the bacon, she could see some smoke on the back patio.  We both noticed it at the same time so we popped outside the rear kitchen door to see where the smoke was coming from.

Once we set foot on the back patio, we could see the BBQ was completely engulfed in flames.  The flames were so intense that they went completely above the BBQ lid (which was closed at this time) and were making contact with the eve of the house.  Our house would have most likely burned down had we not noticed the smoke ahead of time.  I grabbed the water hose, turned it on full blast and started dousing the BBQ grill.  This grill had 2 doors underneath where the propane tank was located.  I managed to get the door opened so I could see the propane tank.  Somehow the bacon grease was on fire underneath the grill and got on the rubber supply hose coming from the still-open tank/valve.  Once it burned through that, it ignited, throwing a blow-torch type flame volume up under the BBQ grill.  I used the water hose to cool the propane tank (from as much distance as possible, of course) all the while the flames were unstoppable.  It was all we could do to keep the water on the BBQ grill, its propane tank and the side of the house/eves.

It was at this time that I had to make the decision...do I try to risk moving the BBQ grill away from the house and possibly result in a tank explosion, or do I just keep holding my own with the water.  Wendy had grabbed another hose by this time from the other corner of the house, so we were both applying as much water as possible.  I decided to keep going with this tactic, as long as I could be sure the house didn't start to catch on fire.  The plan would have been to pull the BBQ grill away from the house as fast as possible, even if it meant rolling and toppling into the back yard off of the patio concrete slab. I didn't want to do this, however, due to the fact that the propane tank was already way too hot and I didn't want to potentially cause an avoidable tank explosion.

The next part of this seemed like forever.  We had to let the fuel burn out of the tank (yes, it was a nearly full tank) and it took at least 20 minutes to completely burn out.  We probably used an hours worth of water between the two of us in that 30-minute timeframe.

Now here's the even scarier part when I think back about this.  Had this been an issue in one of our camping/RV rigs, this would have been exponentially more serious.  Most likely to the point of burning the rig down very quickly.  Based on this, I now know I HAVE to protect my family and property using the Gas Stop safety valves.  The protection if affords you costs so little, and yet it provides a much needed extra cushion of safety while enabling you to still enjoy and use your propane and propane accessories (yes, King of the Hill reference....LOL).

I would recommend Gas Stop to everyone who is currently using and/or getting ready to use propane and propane accessories for anything you are doing.  It's as simple as that.  There's no replacement for safety and peace of mind.

Thanks,

J. Walls"