The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a warning about an "extremely dangerous" kind of firepit that it says has been tied to two deaths and more than five dozen injuries over the past five years. USA Today reports that federal regulators are imploring people to stop using and get rid of liquid-burning firepits that use isopropyl rubbing alcohol or a similar liquid, which show up as "tabletop firepits, fire pots, miniature fireplaces, or portable fires for indoor use," per the CPSC.
"Firepits that require consumers to pour isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol or other liquid fuel into an open container or bowl and then ignite the pooled liquid in the same location it was poured violate" safety standards, the agency notes, adding that sales of such products should also cease. It doesn't finger specific brands, but it does say the alert follows previous warnings on FLIKRFIRE Tabletop Fireplaces and a Colsen-branded tabletop firepit.
Per the CPSC, such alcohol-based liquids can reach temps of more than 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit when burning "and can cause third-degree burns in less than one second." The agency warns that an "uncontrollable pool fire" can result, "which can suddenly produce larger, hotter flames that can spread beyond the fire pit product." It also notes the risk of "flame jetting," in which "a small flame in the firepit 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."
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People cites multiple examples of people who've been hurt or killed by similar firepits, including an elderly New Hampshire couple who died in June after their tabletop firepit blew flames at them in June. They both perished a week after suffering third-degree burns. "All of a sudden, these flames shot out ... like a blowtorch," the couple's daughter tells WBZ-TV. "That totally took over both my parents' bodies." Another victim, who survived her burns, said she had to jump into her swimming pool to douse the flames that engulfed her from her tabletop firepit. "It was just, it was horrible," Katelyn Little tells WBZ of her July scare. She was hospitalized for four days with second- and third-degree burns all over her body. (More firepit stories.)
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