carbon monoxide is produced in copious amounts when cookinjg with charcoal. you will see it burning when your fresh lump is left to burn with all vents open. sometimes shoots three feet out the top.

i have had the standard run-of-the-mill flashback occur when i open the lid, and an orange ball of hot air catches fir from the inrush of 02. but i have also had the sheet of blue CO flame flare out from a barely cracked lid. it is MUCH hotter than a flashback. i severely burnt my thumb with very little exposure to it, while conversely i have lost maybe armhair and eyebrows from an O2 flashback, but, there is virtually no danger to the skin.