Huge fire/personal injury hazard

I'm not sure this is the right place to post this. Wanted to make sure as many people saw as possible, but if it's the wrong place, I apologize and hope a mod will move.:tiptoe:

I just saw a candle on TV that Bed, Bath, and Beyond is selling that may directly kill a 14 year old! It's an outdoor ceramic pot that has an appoximately 3" diameter metal insert. You pour this gel fuel in the metal insert and light. It supposedly scares away bugs, and burns like the old tiki torches, but the flame! My gosh, it was at least 2 feet high, and when the wind hits it, it goes all over the place! The major problem with it(they had a fire department demonstrating) is when the flame goes low, it doesn't look like it's still lit, you pour more fuel in, and it explodes fuel with a lit flame all over you! The gel isn't like the candle gel that we use. It's always "pourable", but very thick, so you have to stay there awhile to get it to pour into the insert.

People are using these for outdoor parties. The company that makes them has told Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pull them off the shelves, but on TV they went to a store in Maryland, and they were still there.

The boy they showed on TV was at his aunt's wedding. He poured more fuel in, it exploded, the gel went all over him, and his body is completely covered in bandages, he's blind, and all his organs are shutting down!

My God, that's horrible...

I just purchased one and the gel last weekend at K-MART. I also bought it for the bugs. We use it at our camper. THANK YOU for the information. I will not be using this anymore.

My type is made by TIKI

Tina

Edited June 13, 2011 by Tinas Candles

The one they showed on TV was made by NAPA something or other. It was very pretty, and big...but after they blew it out, the ceramic was scorched from the heat of the flame, and the flame actually hitting it.

One part of the demonstration the fire department did...they had a tee shirt stretched on a hanger that they moved in, at the normal height of a person, as this little robot thing poured some gel into the metal insert, because it looked like it went out, and the flame immediately shot up and caught the tee shirt on fire! It was really scary to watch the demos they did on this product. And even though the firemen were all dressed in full firefighter gear, they felt safer to have a robot move in and put the gel in it? Wow, is all I can say... Say some prayers for that poor kid. I hope he makes it...and that no one else gets hurt by these.

Edited June 13, 2011 by Bernadette
additional info

WOW. That is terrible scary!!

more info... http://riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com/2011/06/16613/candle-gel-that-caused-riverhead-boys-accident-recalled-after-times-article/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/nyregion/a-firepot-a-safe-label-and-2-horrible-explosions.html?_r=1

and http://www.napahomeandgarden.com/safety/ (hhhhrm..)

Omg how tragic and disturbing. Truly heart breaking..

That is just awful. I sure hope that poor 14 year old boy does survive but it doesn't sound good.

With all of the warnings at the link that Luminous posted...I don't think I would even want to buy one of these things. Hell...when my hubby decides to use charcoal instead of the gas grill...and the damn coals take forever to get hot...he squirts more fluid on them and I keep telling him NOT to do it. Scares the crap outta me when the flames flare up real high.

I've been thinking about this all day...they said the warning were on disposable wrappers, too small, etc. And in the story Luminous posted, it said the person that read the directions wasn't there when the boy that got hurt tried it.

Well, you know, as a sideline, I sell only on the internet. I have to rely on the written word to tell consumers about my products, and I've learned over the years, to condense the pertinent points as much as possible if there's any hope of them reading it. You have to READ to know what you're ordering on the internet. Well...here's one for ya'...I have over 900 different products on my site. It would be impossible to show each candle in EVERY available color, so I show a popular shade, or one that shows up well online, but in the discription let them know that any color is available; but if they don't specify a color, they'll get the default of the natural wax color. So a few weeks ago, someone buys a bunch of floaters with no color option. I make and ship natural color. Then I get an email, "they're beautiful, but I ordered red! What happened?" So I check her order. No color specified. I sent her a copy, plus a link to the description, so that she knows what happened. Then she writes back she thought they were red because they were red in the picture.

Just saying, if the person ordering doesn't read, or pass on info to users, this ceramic pot is going to be a danger and shouldn't even be on the market. It still boggles my mind that people can be so nonchalant about products that produce fire.:tiptoe:

thanks for the heads up, that is so tragic.

Awful stuff, prayers out for the boy and his family.

Recall for a better label? How lame. Why not recall the napalm for all who bought it, send out warnings to prior purchasers like Tina's Candles above who learned about this NOT from the store or manufacturer, but from an internet website just by chance.

Horrible horrible story! I can't stand it.

I took mine back to Kmart and they did not give me any problems. The woman asked why and I told her about the safety issue even if it wasnt the same brand and she said she could understand. They gave me a full refund. I also prayed for the boy and his family. Too bad it took such a horrible accident to bring this to light.

Tina

Bringing this back to the top because last night on our local news they announced that these are being recalled. Hubby had the remote in hand and the story was coming up next after the break. Of course HE decided to change the channel because the local weather forecast was coming on another channel and he was MORE concerned about the possibility of heavy storms here.

Did anyone else hear or see this?

Yes, there was a recall.

http://riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com/2011/06/16613/candle-gel-that-caused-riverhead-boys-accident-recalled-after-times-article/

I am receiving question after question on my website about this.... Because of this horrendous product, and the media simply referring to the fuel as gel, everyone is starting to think that "gel candles" are unsafe again!

I'm sorry, but the gel I use in candles DOES NOT contain ethanol! The stupid, dangerous fuel for this pot does! No wonder you can't see the flame at times! Anyone who has ever been to a banquet or party where alcohol burners were used to keep the food hot knows how hot the trays get, even when you can't see the flame, and how easy it is to get burned if you accidentally touch the metal serving dish.

I hate irresponsible sellers like these people, that sell open alcohol fuel to the general public. Why not just sell grenades to the general public. As ridiculous as that sounds that what they did here, and then to just call the fuel gel is very misleading.

My God that is horrible. Thanks for the heads up.

I hate irresponsible sellers like these people, that sell open alcohol fuel to the general public. Why not just sell grenades to the general public. As ridiculous as that sounds that what they did here, and then to just call the fuel gel is very misleading.

I feel ya, Bernadette. This isn't limited to just gel wax - EVERY candle that causes problems gives the whole industry a black eye, which is why one should endeavor to make quality products with safety FIRST in mind - not appearance, not scent throw, not novelty, not profit, not "environmentalism," SAFETY. We are making products with an open, exposed FLAME, for goodness sake! We ALL have a responsibility to remember that FIRST!!

Obviously, those jerks did NOT perform due diligence in their testing nor apply a modicum of common sense regarding the use of their product by the general public. Unfortunately, too many "candlemakers" are into the money that "fad" type candles offer and do not consider the potential damage they are doing, not only to unwitting (or half-witted) customers, but to candlemakers everywhere who give a crap about their products and try to make appealing, safe products. Being sued into bankruptcy isn't good enough for folks like that - they need to do jail time for the harm they caused by their greed and negligence. They need to pay their victims damages every day of their lives.

Recall for a better label? How lame.

I followed links from the article to a couple of the firepot manufacturers & the fuel manufacturer's (Fuel Barons, makers of OzoFire) websites.

Here're their updated safety pages:

http://www.napahomeandgarden.com/safety/

http://www.fuelbarons.com/Safety-Info.html

Give me a break. This is the kind of greenwashing that makes my head spin around while spewing green pea soup! It's the same GREEDHEAD song as other odious mega-corps sing, different verse, all wrapped up in GREEN (both the environmental and the currency kind). I hope those "barons" have to pay and pay and pay for their mindless greed in the name of "green." The big embossed looking seal on their warning page "Earth Friendly - environmentally friendly green fuel" really chaps my butt. Makes it sound all green and natural and pure AND safe... Their product may burn clean but what good is it if it risks the lives and homes of the users, who/which DON'T burn clean with no emissions?!

They suck, suck, suck! :angry2: They deserve to be set on fire with their own product.

BUMP!

Just thought you would like to know, I got this from an email list on legal things:

For those of you with Napa Home & Garden, Inc., as a potential defendant, please note that it filed for Chapter 11 on July 5, 2011. It was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta), Petition No. 11-69828-jb. Its Schedule F (in two parts) of creditors is over 1,100 pages long and includes the names of dozens tort claimants (great for assembling an OSI list). Hope you have a retailer, gel supplier, and gel container manufacturer as defendants.