Last week an unattended grill on a first floor patio somehow ignited the building and the resulting fire burned the entire building down, displacing over 150 residents and destroying over 50 condos.

The building did not have sprinklers as it was an older building that was exempt from retrofitting from our understanding. The resident of the unit that started the fire was arrested on multiple charges including a charge related to 4 firefighters being injured.

This is a tragedy of unbelievable proportions, people’s lives are upended, homes lost, untold amounts of damages, all because of a grill.

WE’VE SAID IT BEFORE AND WE’LL KEEP SAYING IT, GRILLS ARE ILLEGAL TO USE ON DECKS AND PATIOS ON MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING! GRILL ON THE GROUND, AT LEAST 10 FEET AWAY FROM COMBUSTIBLE SURFACES SUCH AS FENCES, LANDSCAPING, THE BUILDING, SHEDS ETC. DO NOT LEAVE A GRILL UNATTENDED!

So what happens next? The HOA is going to find out if insurance will pay for losses or not. If the association failed to enforce a no-grill policy or the requirement by the insurance company, if it exists in the policy that no grills be used on patios or decks, they will likely not be covered. That comes from several conversations I’ve had with insurance professionals. Meanwhile, innocent residents are faced with incalculable losses and trying to recover. This could have been easily avoided.

California state law bans grills from patios and decks on multi-family housing as do many other states and municipalities. Does your association perform inspections to make sure that no grills are on any decks or being used on decks? That might even include walking around on a Saturday or Sunday when someone might be grilling on a deck and also include a comprehensive inspection of each and every deck to ensure there are no grills present and to present the resident with a notice that no grills are allowed on the deck and perhaps even go as far as having them sign a document saying they understand.

If you need help to inspect your balconies to ensure that there are no grills on the decks. Please contact us at 805-801-2380 and we can give you a quote on a one-time inspection or an ongoing series of random inspections.