Last week while cooking dinner outside, my Traeger unexpectedly caught on fire. Now I'm a Georgia…read moregirl with a lot of experience cooking on a smoker, so I fully understand the concept behind it and that yes, there is supposed to be some fire involved in the normal process in order to create that coveted smoke in the first place.
However, it's because of my southern roots that I also know that other than first igniting the Traeger, it should stay fairly steady and not have smoke billowing out in waves. And there should certainly NEVER be any flames shooting outside in any scenario. That's always going to be a hard no.
So when I walked up to flip my food halfway, and saw smoke pouring out of every possible crevice, I CAREFULLY and SLOWLY lifting the lid, just enough to try to see what was going on, then upon pulling out one of dishes, I saw bright orange flames spread across the bottom side of the grill.
I quickly shut the lid and ran inside to grab the emergency fire blankets that I had (thankfully yet coincidentally) just purchased a few weeks before, and after returning less than 20 seconds later, found flames shooting out from underneath the lid and drip hole on the left side, which was right next to the house.
I then looked at the temp gauge and saw it rapidly ascend from 450° to 550° in a matter of seconds, and worried that it would catch the house on fire or possibly even explode if I didn't act fast. So I donned my cooking gloves (don't judge, I improvised), stood off to the side, opened the lid far enough to throw the fire blanket inside and across the grates, then slammed the lid shut again and hit the switch to turn everything off.
Miraculously, within seconds, the flames were snuffed out, but there was still so much heat and smoke, and it had all happened so fast, plus not knowing where the fire had originated from or if it was truly completely out or not, I reached out to the LO Fire Department.
Enter Station #210.
I walk or drive by this fire house at least once a day as it is located so close to where I live, but I've never personally been in need of assistance before. But without hesitation, the three people in house (two men and one woman), immediately hopped into one of their trucks after I attempted to breathlessly explain what had happened, and drove straight to my house (all few blocks ;) ) then proceeded to help me by pulling the Traeger out of the alcove where it was. They opened everything up. Removed the other dish of "food" that was still in there (note: this all went directly into the garbage after it had cooled... dish and all since there was no distinguishing between the two), and emptied the pellet box to make sure there was nothing still smoldering inside that wasn't visible from the outside. They were even kind enough to spread out the (now very singed) emergency fire blanket I had used to put out the fire to dump the pellets out onto since the box had just been filled and they knew that otherwise it would have created a huge mess for me to have to cleanup on my own later.
Very long story short, even though the fire ended up already having been put out and I probably looked and sounded like a frantic mad women when I initially talked to them, they still treated me kindly and respectfully and never once made me feel like I was either over or under reacting. And the little details they attended to while at my home, even though only for a brief time, really helped to calm my nerves when my adrenaline was already running at peak capacity.
So once again, the men and women of Station #210 set a shining example of how treating others should be done, whether you are in a public service position or not. And I could not feel more secure knowing that they are there and at the ready to help should I or any of my neighbors have another emergency arise in the future.
We're in good hands, LO!