True but still dumb as even gas bbq's have the potential to cause fires in close living quarters. Why not just say no bbq's, no exceptions...period! With condo towers getting taller and taller all the time there's going to have to be a serious public consultation on the dangers of fire posed by these monster buildings. How prepared are fire departments to deal with an inferno in a building such as Ice or One Bloor, for example? A little common sense goes a long ways.
Sorry - but this is just wrong. First of all, major incidents very seldom come out of the blue, totally unexpected. If there were a pattern or history of minor incidents with gas line fitted barbeques, then yes, there should be regulations against them. I am not aware of any even minor incidents with gas line fitted barbeques on high rise building balconies. One of the first indications of risk would be the impact on property insurance. I am not aware of allowing barbeques in a building impacting the building's umbrella insurance policy. Having a barbeque certainly did not impact our home insurance policy - I do not believe it was even a question on the application form.
I am aware of barbeque fires having happened - in fact, before we moved into our condominium, our next door neighbour had a barbeque fire - a barbeque with a propane gas tank - not a natural gas line. Propane gas barbeques are not allowed in high rise buildings - they are the risk because of the amount of combustant in the propane tank - not the limited flow of gas coming out of the barbeque gas line.
If you want to talk about dumb risk and dangers of fire posed in monster buildings - the real risk is smoking - how many apartment fires in high rise buildings are caused by smokers? Sorry, allowing smoking in high rise buildings, especially in combination with drinking - now that is what creates risk, not gas barbeques.
My understanding of the legal restriction on propane tanks is they can only be brought up from the ground in a freight elevator, or in a passenger elevator in which not other passengers other than the person transporting the propane tank are present. The risks associated with propane tanks, plus the legal restrictions on their transportation in elevators, are what leads condominium buildings to ban their use.