If you have a fire pit, indoor fire or wood/coal barbecue, you need to know how to dispose of charcoal safely. If you don’t it becomes a fire hazard that could do serious damage to your home or garden. And the coals stay glowing for much longer than you think, even if it looks like they are no longer active, they could still be secretly smouldering — ready to ignite into flame if they come into contact with enough air.
Dispose of charcoal safely
As long as the charcoal still glows, it can also ignite. Therefore, you can not just put the used fuel in the dustbin. So where do you do it?
After grilling you should dispose of charcoal safely and also this applies to any ash left in the barbecue or fire. If you underestimate the glow times of charcoal and briquettes, you may be able to trigger a fire. This is what the Institute for Loss Prevention and Damage Research calls attention to.
Therefore, the experts advise to assume a fire risk up to three days after the ignition of the charcoal. During this time you should not dispose of the coal and ash in a garbage can or in flammable containers. Instead, you should better fill both in a refractory container with a lid, so that no wind-blowing particles can blow out and so kindled on the wooden terrace or garden furniture a fire.
Anyone who lights a so-called ‘Swedish fire’ in the garden — that is, an upright, sawn-in piece of tree trunk — should know that the embers in the trunk can become over 1000 degrees Celsius hot. So do not leave the log unattended in the garden or at the barbecue area.
The experts also advise to extinguish the leftovers or to let them cool down in a fireproof bin with a lid for several days. A metal wastebasket could work as long as it has a lid. too.
Gerhardt Richter is a writer and a trainer at trade technical colleges, specializing in carpentry, plumbing, mechanics and construction.
