Fire

[Tenpoint5]

Like you said you learned some lessons that you will not soon forget. Here's to getting back in the saddle and doing it all again, minus the fire thing.

[mlp311]

One other point, I got to comfortable. I for some reason thought I could judge when water was needed by what the temp was doing. Again, im just glad I was awake when this happened.

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[mikecorn.1]

Not the best pics in the world. Its toast. I can feel the insulation crackle behind the metal on the bottom half. I was smoking a brisket. I did have foil on half the v drip pan, but I don't think that was the problem. My problem was a dry drip pan. I was going good. Temp had just regained to 250. I was in the process of boiling water to refill drip pan. I look over at thermometer again, and it seems like temp had gone from 252 to 400 in about 5 seconds. I had alarm on my digital thermometer set at 250 and had just silenced it. I walked outside and the top of my smoker looked like an old steam engine exhaust. I went back inside, got my fire extinguisher and opened the door to find the inside of my Bradley fully involved.

Im glad I was still up, would hate to see the outcome had I not been. Im guilty of not washing everything after every smoke. I usually just take my putty knife and scrape everything off really well.

Im going to go with a Bradley again, plan on ordering my replacement tomorrow. So I've learned a valuable lesson. I need to throughly clean everything and pay closer attention to drip pan to make sure it has water. My pride is really hurting, but at least my house didn't burn down.

Guys I'm a professional fireman and I wouldn't use one of these smokers indoors at all. In the future, it will not even be anywhere near my house. Im serious when I say everything looked good one minute and turned very bad within a few minutes. 

I found a OBS through Sears for $250, and I don't think I can repair this one for under that.

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Check this one out. There is a thread on it somewhere. I happen to have the pic saved on my phone.



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[devo]

Well there you go guys, a  professional fireman just gave all you guys using your smokers indoors a big HINT.....Don't do it

[TedEbear]

I did have foil on half the v drip pan, but I don't think that was the problem. My problem was a dry drip pan. I was going good. Temp had just regained to 250. I was in the process of boiling water to refill drip pan.

Were you using the original bowl that comes with the Bradley?  Many people replace that one with a 9x13 (not sure of the exact size at the moment) disposable aluminum pan that holds much more water and many more pucks.

[GusRobin]

While a dry pan is definitely a problem,don't underestimate the danger of foil on the v tray.It is designed to flow grease in a safe manner.Any obstruction due to foil coupled with the "normal" blockages from drippings can send enough grease to the hot spots to ignite.

[Quarlow]

While a dry panis definitely a problem,don't underestimate the danger of foil on the v tray.It is designed to flow grease in a safe manner.Any obstruction due to foil coupled with the "normal" blockages from drippings can send enough grease to the hot spots to ignite.

I agree 100%. Sorry to hear this, but glad no one got hurt. You should really look at the new redesigned OBS. I would sell mine to buy one no problem.

[viper125]

Well sorry to hear that. But it sounds like it could have been avoided. Simply by cleaning things after each smoke,not putting foil on v tray and keeping water full when burning pucks. I would never put it in an attached garage but still feel its safe not near the house and handled properly. By the way I keep a fire extinguisher in the garage and never sleep or leave mine to far away. Thank god your safe. Smokers are cheap lives are not.

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[devo]

Well Viper I hope you have that fire extinguisher on the outside of your garage, it don't take very long for a room to fill up with smoke so much where you can't see. You don't want to be stumbling around trying to find it. I have been at work and been involved in some big fires and the smoke is the worst to deal with. I'm sure mlp311 thought to himself it will never happen to me but it did. You know that old Murphy's law thing.................that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

[Habanero Smoker]

Glad to hear there was no other damage then the damage to the smoker. Thanks for sharing what happened. I know what you mean, that things can go wrong quickly. At my former work when we had to take mandatory fire drill classes, we would be shown a film on how quickly a fire can consume an entire room in under three minutes. Which was also the time we had to evacuate everyone in order to pass our fire drills.

Where the spent bisquettes still in the water bowl when it caught fire?

[mlp311]

I was using the larger aluminium pan, not the one that came with the OBS.

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[mlp311]

Yes, spent pucks were still in the pan.

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[KyNola]

I'm so sorry that your Bradley is toast but very grateful that your Bradley is the only thing that is toast.

[mlp311]

I want to be clear to anyone that reads my unfortunate story, that this in no way was the fault of the Bradley Smoker. It is all my own boneheaded fault. I love the Bradley line, and I am currently browsing around and weighing my options on which new Bradley to buy.

[Habanero Smoker]

Again; thanks for the follow up. It gives me a better understanding of this.