How do I explain this situation ?

DON'T VOLUNTEER ANY INFORMATION. Tell them you were still grilling when the fire broke out. You could point out that some lady mentioned hearing a sound like a firecracker but if there's cameras like you say, unless they show someone throwing a firecracker in there, it means nothing.

OMG - a real life dumpster fire !!! 😷
Found out that the trash company around here has cameras that can see inside the truck's "bin". Found this out when the truck that picked up at our work (shared dumpster) saw smoke/flames in the bin. Now, nothing says it came from our dumpster - could have came from earlier pick-ups and just took time to ignite. Who knows what they do ? They don't call the fire department and wait for them to arrive, they DUMP the load out on the ground to save their truck !! Can't say I blame 'em either !

Oh yeah, the driver said the camera is to look for "other things" too. It happens (not in our area, but the trucks cover a lot of area).
 
DON'T VOLUNTEER ANY INFORMATION. Tell them you were still grilling when the fire broke out. You could point out that some lady mentioned hearing a sound like a firecracker but if there's cameras like you say, unless they show someone throwing a firecracker in there, it means nothing.


Found out that the trash company around here has cameras that can see inside the truck's "bin". Found this out when the truck that picked up at our work (shared dumpster) saw smoke/flames in the bin. Now, nothing says it came from our dumpster - could have came from earlier pick-ups and just took time to ignite. Who knows what they do ? They don't call the fire department and wait for them to arrive, they DUMP the load out on the ground to save their truck !! Can't say I blame 'em either !

Oh yeah, the driver said the camera is to look for "other things" too. It happens (not in our area, but the trucks cover a lot of area).
I would think batteries caused a few too …
 
So you stand by your grill 7 hours while you smoked a brisket ? Or come check every 1 hours ?

Last night I was little lost because I was in shock . My mind is straight now . I dint do anything that could start a fire . There plenty peoples grill here too. And plenty peoples throwing stuff in the dumpster . When the fire start it just happen that I only one grilling at the time. There are 2 peoples are grilling down there right now . They can look at the camera .
You didn't tell the whole story about smoking meat. You said BBQ. BBQing and grilling are totally different.
 
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It's a rather convoluted story the way it is presented. Keep it simple when telling your story. You said you were grilling or bbq-ing. You said you did not throw any ashes or coals or anything that could have started a fire into the dumpster. That's all that natters. With some luck the security camera footage can confirm that.

Leaving the grill/BBQ/smoker unattended without having extinguished the coals/ashes was negligent in any case. Even if you put the lid with the vent closed on the grill that's not good enough given your location. I grill in my backyard. I have neighbors on three sides. As soon as I'm done I dump the ashes and remaining coals into a large metal bucket, douse with water, and stir.
 
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Overnight is not long enough for the coal embers to go out. 4-5 hours is definitely not long enough. You may have started this fire. Accept that.

A good friend let his charcoal grille sit overnight after cooking. The next afternoon, he dumped the ashes in his trash can. That night, 24 hours after he let the cooking fire go out, a fire started in his trash can. Burned down the can, the adjacent fence, and his boat.

I think you got lucky.
I have started fires from embers days old. It coulda been a thing, for sure!
 
Tell them what you did, it is hard to know for sure unless you pick the trash apart to see what is going on inside (and it may not be recognizable anyways). To be honest whatever you say people may or maynot believe you regardless, and human also has a tendency of not being aware of everything they do (not saying you specifically but it is in general human nature). Oh, be polite and don't get emotional when you explain, it helps to be polite and makes you more believable.

Most of the time it could just be someone toss old flammable stuff in the trash like cotton clothes or cooking oil, then another person toss a cigarettes butt inside.

**** happen, even if you leave things out and some teen played with the charcoal after you grill and left, and trash it, they may still blame you for it despite you did nothing wrong.

The fire being out now and nobody is hurt and nothing is damaged. Next time I would leave the can of ashes in a metal can next to the grill, so that if something is burning you can say this is the practice you follow and there is no reason YOU have derived from it, make it a visible can of charcoal ash so people can see it and believe it. Having a consistent track record of what you do increase your creditibility.
 
Never had a problem letting the coals burn out overnite, just cold ash the next day, keep the lid on and all the vents open.
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As a career fire fighter for 25 years and fire investigator for the last 10 i doubt anything will come of this. Bigger fish to fry for most Fire Marshal's Offices
 
I can barely understand your post. English may not be your lanquage of choice. Your lack of understanding how long a grill stays hot and how long coals are active tells me you should never be near any grill.
If anyone says anything explain you are getting rid of your grill.
 
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