Part of being a homeowner is freedom to light up coals or turn on the gas and barbecue a steak or grill some vegetables in the backyard. But what if you live in an apartment with only a balcony to house your grill?

That's getting trickier.

New state fire codes prohibit open-flame grilling within 10 feet of a combustible surface. That means most apartment balconies and many patios.

The new rules are part of updated codes produced by state fire marshals. They say you can barbecue if:

• Your building is small, with one or two families.

• The building has balconies or decks that are protected by automatic sprinkler systems.

• You have a propane tank for your grill that is no bigger than those typically used for camping stoves.

"Unfortunately, there are examples of serious fires starting, and in apartment complexes you have a lot of families living close together," said Cory Koehler, deputy director of the Rental Housing Association of the Sacramento Valley.

The association, a rental industry trade group covering Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, has been asking apartment managers to notify residents. Statewide, the California Apartment Association is doing the same. Some complexes are rewriting leases to include the provision, the groups said.

Fire departments aren't making the rules a big priority, but they say they'll respond to complaints.

"Are they going to have barbecue police going around and looking at barbecues on balconies? No," said Eric Wiegers, CAA deputy director. "But for some apartment owners with wood-decked balconies, it's not a bad thing to do, in the spirit of safety and for your residents."

So what brought all this on?

"We do go to fires caused by barbecues on balconies," said Mike Stewart, fire marshal for Sacramento Metro Fire District. "We may go to a few of these every year."

The art of the home

Mystery solved: Last week Home Front featured a Pocket-area home in escrow that contained two metal murals by the late Fred Ball, a Sacramento artist known nationally for his work as an enamelist. What wasn't clear was how the artwork became part of the house, with its big Italian wood doors and Rocky Mountain stonework.

Today, Sacramento artist Patrick Mooney, a friend of Ball's, tells the story:

"I was there when the house was being built," he said. "Fred was taking over samples and drawings to show what his concept was. I drove him over there." It was 1981.

Mooney said Sacramento architect Edwin Kado designed the house for a banker and real estate investor-developer. Kado was looking for something special for the house and knew Ball's work.

That's how the home got two metal murals that suggest natural scenes above fireplaces in the living room and master bedroom.

"It was at a period when Fred was transitioning from studio and gallery art to doing a lot more public commissions," Mooney said. Among them was a mural titled "Samurai" that sits above the mantle of a home in Rancho Murieta.

"I saw him working on the pieces. I was his assistant for the one in Rancho Murieta," said Mooney.

Ball died at age 40 in 1985 after being attacked by assailants assumed to be robbers. He did numerous pieces of art for public spaces around Sacramento, including the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, the Community Theater and a Downtown Plaza parking garage.

Credit where credit is due

A few alert certified public accountants called Home Front last week after its explanation of the new $7,500 tax credit for homebuyers. The column said single buyers can get a credit for only $3,750.

But the callers point out that singles are eligible for the entire credit up to $7,500 if buying a home for themselves. The $3,750 is for married buyers filing separately.

Call The Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102. Read his blog on real estate, Home Front, at www.sacbee.com/blogs.