GAS grill potential hazard

This is the time of year when many people unpack their grills for some outdoor cooking, but did you know about a potential hazard involved? KOTV's Diane White says this alert involves a gas grill

Wednesday, June 13th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

This is the time of year when many people unpack their grills for some outdoor cooking, but did you know about a potential hazard involved? KOTV's Diane White says this alert involves a gas grill and is about a local man who found a possible fire hazard on his gas grill, and now he's taking action.

It was a Father's Day gift three years ago, and Monty Hill enjoys using the gas grill during warm weather. Recently, he discovered a problem. "This is the main burner on this thing and it looks really well from the bottom until you turn it over and it literally is disintegrating." That led him to research his Sunbeam Grill. He went online, to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website. He learned there was a recall in 1998, the same year they bought his grill. One sentence caught his eye, 'The side burner's propane gas hose can twist up toward the (grill) causing overheating and melting of the hose.' Potential hazards, a gas leak or fire. Hill, "that gas line there is rubber." So Hill took a closer look at his grill.

As an experienced mechanic and inspector for American Airlines, he's used to checking out parts. "I think the gas line on this thing is way too close to the burner assembly in here. According to this tag right here it says no closer than 24 inches from a combustible heat source." But it's only ten inches away. "If you had a fire, there's been no way to turn this off." He called Sunbeam, they told him they would send him a new burner, but also said his grill's model number is not on the recall list. He believes it should be, because it's so similar to the one in the recall. "I think they need to do their homework on these and investigate the rest of the line for that year because if I can just stumble across it, I'm sure there's others out there that don't know." So he filed an incident report with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and it is investigating.

A spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission says they can't comment on Monty Hill's case because it's an ongoing investigation. You can file a complaint online and find out about recalls. CLICK HERE or call the Consumer Product Safety Commission at 1-800-638-2772. KOTV also called Sunbeam and they are looking into this situation, so KOTV will have an update when they get back to us.