BBQers alert: Grill cleaning + propane torch = Batavia fire

Are you cleaning your grill, in preparation for a summer of cookouts?

A house on the 500 block of Forest Avenue in Batavia suffered minor damage Sunday afternoon during such a cleaning.

The resident turned on a natural-gas-fueled grill to warm it up to aid in removing gunk, Batavia Fire Department Battalion Chief Mark Cwinski said. Then he left the house.

The heat buildup, however, caused a propane torch stored beneath the grill to explode, setting off a fire. The torch normally was used to ignite wood chips in a smoker attached to the grill.

A neighbor tried to douse the flames with a garden hose, before firefighters arrived. Firefighters turned off the natural gas and put the fire out with an extinguisher.

The grill was on a deck, which was damaged by the fire.