How to Keep Your BBQ Flame-Free

June 29, 2007 — -- With temperatures rising and the Fourth of July just days away, backyard barbecues are lighting up all over the country.

But grilling isn't always a picnic. The National Fire Data Center estimates barbecue grills cause more than 6,000 fires, 170 injuries and five deaths every year.

"It is a real danger," said Tom Carr, Maryland's Montgomery County fire chief. "We see injuries and fires as a result of not respecting the grill."

Mary Kay Welch, a mother of one from Fairfax, Va., knows the dangers of grilling all too well. She lost her home in a fire caused by a neighbor's unattended gas grill.

"The speed of the fire was very dramatic," Welch said. "The end unit was completely gone ... It was obliterated."

Another gas grill fire, this one in North Carolina, destroyed two homes. Firefighters say the danger can stem from propane tanks, which can rupture and catch fire in the hot summer sun.

On "Good Morning America," consumer correspondent Elisabeth Leamy offered tips on how to prevent fire hazards while grilling this summer.