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Gene Kennedy ReportingBarbecueing is as much of a 4th of July tradition as fireworks and "Yankee Doodle." But the key is knowing what you're doing when you fire up those briquettes, or you can get hurt badly. A 13 year-old Utah boy learned the hard way.
If you just bought your barbeque in time for the 4th, you were probably told, if you didn't already know, to only use lighter fluid or barbeque fluid to fire up the briquettes. And even then, use it sparingly because you are dealing with fire.
Overnight, a 13-year-old boy burned himself and could have burned his house down when he put gasoline into the barbeque.
He was barbequeing in his backyard in West Valley City and thought his briquettes had gone out. He tried to re-light them by pouring gasoline on them.
The barbeque flashed and the briquettes went up in flames. Neighbors put out the fire with a garden hose.
The 13-year old suffered second-degree burns to his hand and right shoulder, but he will be okay.
Tony Glezos, West Valley City Fire Dept.: "It's a good lesson to be learned. He's very luck. Do not use gasoline under any circumstance around a barbque."
The outside of the West Valley home also had a couple thousand dollars in damage, but luckily the flames didn't spread indoors.
Fire officials tell us a small cup of gasoline is equal to a stick of dynamite when it vaporizes in an enclosed environment.
