Don't do this at Home

July 4th I hosted my first BBQ. I invited some friends from work and I. came up from L.A. Being in California I decided I should barbeque tri-tip steak. Sounds simple enough right? I decided I would put a rub on it. I had a recipe from my friends M. & R. that I've used the past few years on flank steak. Being that this was a big piece of meat I was grilling - a little over 3lbs. I doubled the recipe; spices, lime zest, olive oil - perfect!
My guests started to arrived, I put some salmon on the grill, tossed my pasta salad, put out homemade quacamole, poured some wine, then put the steak on the grill.
UP IN FLAMES INSTANTLY! Close the lid, it will put the flames out right?? A few minutes later the grill is approaching 700 degrees, peek under lid, meat engulfed in flames. Look nervously at wood porch, ceiling, cottage that the grill is sitting on..... Turn grill down, smart, then in a moment of panic after closing the windows because the house is filled with smoke, I accidentally turn the grill back up. Meat still on fire, the dial on grill is now past 800 degrees and still spinning. Finally have the brains to turn grill OFF. The yard, house, porch is full of smoke, meat still on fire. Fortunately, I removed salmon quite early in the flaming meat incident and it came out perfectly (minus the layer of black soot, I had to scrape off the top of it). We are now approaching the 20 minute mark (remember 3 + lbs of meat) decide to take meat off grill and put flames out by hand if necessary. I. trusty sous chef, calm, supportive friend holds the platter as I remove charred meat and place (still on fire) on platter. Flames die down, we let meat rest and when I slice it it's almost completely cooked through.
So, if you like your meat with a 1/2" char around it, come on over I got the recipe to get that done, pronto!
At one point I thought " what am I going to do??, I'll call my Dad!" In hindsight probably calling my Dad 3,000 miles away as my house is on fire is not going to be the most efficient use of a phone call, but maybe the most comforting.

Hope everyone had as much fun as I did on the 4th!