The Tennessee Fire Chiefs Association (TFCA), in partnership with the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), continues their "What Fuels Your Fire?" firefighter recruitment and retention campaign, working with Rutherford County Fire-Recue Department. The campaign is part of the Tennessee Volunteer Workforce Solutions program designed to help Tennessee's fire departments achieve a viable and sustainable volunteer firefighter workforce. The program is funded by a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant awarded to the TFCA by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to develop a model to enhance the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters.

As summer holidays and gatherings with family and friends are here, there are lots of summer safety reminders to share. NFPA has captured the following information about grill fire safety.

When the warmer weather hits, there's nothing better than the smell of food on the grill.

Three out of five households own a gas grill, which translates to a lot of tasty meals. But it also means there's an increased risk of home fires.

Each year an average of 8,900 home fires are caused by grilling, and close to half of all injuries involving grills are due to thermal burns. While nearly half of the people who grill do it year-round, July is the peak month for grill fires followed by May, June and August.

Grilling by the numbers:

• In 2014, 16,600 patients went to emergency rooms because of injuries involving grills
• July is the peak month for grill fires (17%), including both structure, outdoor or unclassified fires, followed by May, June and August
• A failure to clean the grill was the leading factor contributing to the fire in one/fifth of all grill structure fires (19%).
• In 17%, something that could catch fire was too close to the grill
• Leaks or breaks were the factor in 11% of grill structure fires and 23% of outside and unclassified grill fires
• Gas grills contribute to a higher number of home fires overall than their charcoal counterparts

To learn more about becoming a firefighter and joining a local volunteer fire department, please visit www.VolunteerFireTN.org .