Federal regulators are urging people not to use liquid-burning firepits following two deaths and 60 injuries within the past five years.
The fire pits that require users to pour isopropyl rubbing alcohol or another liquid fuel into an open container and then ignite at the same spot are considered "extremely dangerous," according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
In an alert issued Thursday, the commission insisted consumers immediately stop using and dispose of these products, adding they should no longer be sold. The warning does not refer to a specific brand but to all fire pits that match the product description.
The fire pits presents two major hazards, including the risk of third degree burns dealt in less than a second, caused by flame temperatures over 1,600°F. The commission also warned that flames can jet out of the container when refueling a pit with an active fire.
"Igniting a pool of alcohol or other liquid fuel in a fire pit's open container creates an uncontrollable pool fire, which can suddenly produce larger, hotter flames that can spread beyond the fire pit product," the CPSC wrote. "A small flame in the fire pit can be hard to see and can ignite alcohol or other liquid fuel as it is poured, causing an explosion that propels flames and burning liquid onto the consumer or bystanders."
The type of fire pits included in the recall were responsible for two deaths and at least 60 injuries since 2019, according the CPSC, which did not specify what the incidents were.
In June, a fire pit explosion reportedly killed an elderly couple during a Father's Day family gathering in Dover, New Hampshire.
Herm and Thelma Stolzenburg, both 93, died when the tabletop fire pit suddenly exploded and engulfed the two in a tragic accident, local stations WBZ-TV and WMUR-TV reported. The couple, who were married for 71 years, died a week after the incident from third-degree burn injuries.
"It was a nanosecond, and the flame just came off of that thing," the couple's daughter Dee McEneaney told WMUR-TV. "There was no time to react in any other way than I did. But to just get up and start screaming and try to help. I was trying to bat the flames on my mother with my hands, and my Dad too, and I look at her and have to go to my Dad."
The pair shared three children, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, WMUR-TV reported.
On Oct. 17, The CPSC issued a recall for 89,500 Colsen fire pits ranging from 5 to 18 inches wide, and sold through several retailers including Amazon, Wayfair and Walmart between January 2020 to July 2024.
The commission said the recall was due to 31 reports of "flame jetting and flames escaping" from the fire pits that caused 19 burn injuries.
Two of the reported injuries left third degree burns to more than 40% of victims' bodies, the CPSC reported, and "at least six incidents have involved surgery, prolonged medical treatment, admission to burn treatment facilities, short-term disability, loss of function, physical therapy, or permanent disfigurement."
Contributing: Max Hauptman