Fire Pit “Safety” Tips - Do Not Use These Products

Based on years of evidence and repeated government warnings, alerts and action, liquid-fuel fire pits cannot be operated safely in ordinary consumer environments. The combination of invisible flames, high heat, and pourable fuel turns a decorative item into a severe burn hazard.

We urge every consumer to discontinue and safely dispose of any alcohol- or ethanol-burning tabletop fire pit.
Choose non-liquid alternatives—wood or wood pellets—if you want flame ambiance without explosive risk. If you or someone you love has suffered burns from one of these devices, contact us to explore all legal options.

What To Do If You Own a Potentially Dangerous or Recalled Fire Pit

If you currently own a tabletop, decorative, or portable fire pit that uses alcohol, ethanol, bio-ethanol, or any pourable liquid fuel, you should treat the product as a serious hazard — even if it appears to work “normally” or has not yet caused an accident. Both the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada have urged consumers to immediately stop using and dispose of these products.

Do not try to sell, donate, or give away the fire pit. It is a violation of U.S. federal law to sell a recalled or known hazardous consumer product, even in a private sale or online marketplace like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Craigslist. Likewise, gifting or donating the unit to another person, thrift store, or charity only passes on a serious risk that has already been proven to cause devastating injuries and deaths.

You should also not attempt to “fix” the product yourself or assume that using less fuel or keeping it outdoors makes it safe. These designs fail because of the inherent danger of pourable fuels, not just because of misuse. Even a small spill, invisible flame, or lingering heat can trigger a flame jetting explosion capable of causing third-degree burns in less than one second.

Here are the most responsible steps you can take:

1. Stop using the product immediately. Extinguish and cool it completely before handling.
2. Check the official recall list on saferproducts.gov or CPSC.gov to see if your specific model (such as Colsen, FLIKRFIRE, or other tabletop alcohol burners) has been recalled.
3. Contact the manufacturer directly. Ask if the company is offering a refund, replacement, or safe disposal instructions. Even if the firm has gone out of business, you can still report the product to CPSC or Health Canada.
4. Destroy or disable the device so that no one else can reuse it — for example, remove and discard the inner fuel bowl or break the reservoir to make it inoperable before placing it in household waste.
5. Do not pour leftover fuel down drains or into trash cans. Contact your local fire department or hazardous waste facility for guidance on safe fuel disposal.

If you are unable to destroy the fire pit or make it inoperable, take the fire pit, fuel containers, internal fuel bowls, and other parts to your local fire department and ask them to properly destroy the fire pit so no one has any chance of using it in the future.