Was nearing the end of cook on a 6 lb eye of round and decided to sear it.  Should have thought of possible consequences before I cranked it up to 475.  I had not cleaned it out for about 8 cooks or so and the drip pan was pretty dirty. It didn't take long for a grease fire to start. I was able to pull out the eye of round right away and oven therms. By that time the smoke was billowing and wife said the neighbors were concerned. Turned it down to fan mode which was adding fuel to the fire basically. I just turned it off and let it burn out on its own. I had to take all my grates out and clean as they were just black with soot. Here is a pic of the chimney cap. Took a putty knife to it and the dried material came off really easy. Same goes for the drip tray, just picked up all the big pieces of material and took a brush and cleaned the small stuff up with that. Searing gone bad with an easy clean at the end of the day.  Don't plan on searing anything on a smoker that has seen more the 2-3 cooks anytime soon!!

Happened to me at least 3-4 times so I can sympathize with you.

Had a few go around's myself, no fun either.

Been there more times then I care to remember...

Same sort of thing for me after 2 pork butts on the DC. 

I guess I have been lucky when I do a "burn off".  I have never had it turn into a blast furnace.  I slowly step up my temps until I hit 500 and then only do it long enough to really see the burn off smoke.  I then slowly step down my temps.  A day or two later I will scrape and vacuum everything out.

I guess I have been lucky when I do a "burn off".  I have never had it turn into a blast furnace.  I slowly step up my temps until I hit 500 and then only do it long enough to really see the burn off smoke.  I then slowly step down my temps.  A day or two later I will scrape and vacuum everything out.

You do it the proper way.  Those of us that have made the mistake cranked up the heat to cook something else right after a fatty low and slow cook.  Not a good idea.  Keep using your method.

My fire happened right after a clean out.  I had fatty rib steaks using the "open flame" feature when the dripping fat ignited on the grease tray.  That was the last time I used the pellet BBQ like that.  I now transfer to the propane BBQ for the searing.  The flare ups on it are nothing like what happens in the DB when it started.  My right front corner now has either no paint, or peeling paint from it bubbling from the heat.

I did my favorite way of burning off my grease today while cooking a Papa Murphy pizza.  When I grill anything (steaks, burgers) I use only the bottom piece of my two piece drip trays and grill grates.  I have never done anything over an open flame.

When I first seasoned (2013) my Traeger Junior (which stays in the RV) I had the drip tray in wrong and I had a fire that burned the paint off of the drum.  Even though it was my fault Traeger sent me a new drum.  Bacon drippings was falling straight into the firepot.

This is my first day on here, and first post.  I had this happen in my JB last weekend, first time in three years after converting from splits to pellets.  Thanks for making me feel a little better about it, I was kicking myself all week for letting it happen!

 
For a Burn Off - Scrape first. Then do the burn off. Goes a lot faster with almost no chance of an out of control fire that can become extremely hot resulting in warping and finish destruction depending on the pit.

This is my first day on here, and first post.  I had this happen in my JB last weekend, first time in three years after converting from splits to pellets.  Thanks for making me feel a little better about it, I was kicking myself all week for letting it happen!

Welcome Scott..You got right into it on your first day..Enjoy your time with us!

This is my first day on here, and first post.  I had this happen in my JB last weekend, first time in three years after converting from splits to pellets.  Thanks for making me feel a little better about it, I was kicking myself all week for letting it happen!

Welcome and thankfully I haven't had one.  Yet.  Thinking about selling my DB but I shan't be cleaning it in such a manner.

I've had my Traeger and DC since 2013 and use them both quite a bit but have never had a grease fire and have never done a burn off. Maybe just lucky or maybe its just that I don't do a lot of high temperature cooks. 

I grilled some burgers on reversed grill grates after a few smokes and I was watching my DB real good for a flare up.  It was smoking pretty good, but it did not flare up.  I only got the temperature up to 450.  This was the first time I did burgers this way and they turned out real good, but they made a big mess.  I will have to clean my DB before I do anything else.