Smokin' the BBQ

When the Witch Creek Fire took out our yard and neighbors house, our grill was too close to the action and the plastic wheels on the side facing the fire melted flat. I called the Webber Grill service dept and inquired about getting another set of wheels. They were kind and shipped them to me free-of-charge (gotta love good customer service).
On Saturday, I received the package and decided to install them. The front wheel just slid into a slot but the old rear wheel had to be cut off and the new one hammered on. I put the grill on its side to do the surgery and stuff tumbled around inside. After the work, I stood it up and I opened the lid to rearrange the burners and the grate and realized that I had not cleaned it after the last use. So, I turned the gas on, lit the fire and turned the burners on high. After about 10 minutes, the grill was really hot and beginning to smoke. I lifted the lid and got a really big puff of smoke in my face so I lowered the lid. I heard the stuff start hissing and realized that I had a grease fire. I lifted the lid again and got another large puff of smoke but was able to clean the grill surface with my metal brush. The grill was still smoking in a mighty fashion, so I turned off the burners and gas and let the grease burn itself out. It obliged me in about 5 minutes.
During this time, a small civilian helicopter came around began circling our block and house. The grill had stopped smoking but I imagine someone in my neighborhood had seen smoke and assumed the worst. People are still on edge about smoke and fire. The helicopter circled for about 5 minutes and then went away. I thought that was all. I was wrong. The little one must have called his big brother because within 5 minutes of his leaving, this massive Coast Guard Mobile air tanker was flying in the area and looking for the smoking offender. He flew around our house for about 15 minutes and then came in for a strafing run. The helicopter could not have been more than 100 feet off the ground and they just started hovering over my back yard. A Search and Rescue guy in orange was leaning out the window looking at me. He did not look too happy about it either. I think that he knew exactly who the offender was because they continued to make low passes over me and the house. The last pass, the guy shook his finger at me and mouthed the words "You're dead meat, dude!" and the helicopter flew off. Those coast guard guys can get pretty bent out of shape when they see a little smoke. Its probably just as likely that the neighbors ratted me out. Ok, so I didn't actually see the helicopter guy mouth words at me or shake his finger at me but he did stare at me with an expression that said "Don't make me have to drop my red fire suppression dust on you". I don't think that the neighborhood could handle anyone, let alone me, grilling until 2008. You'll know when I grill again. It will probably make the evening news.