A tabletop fire pit is sold as a small, inexpensive centerpiece for a patio, a dinner table, or a quiet evening outdoors. For too many families, it has become something else: a product that can erupt without warning and leave lasting burn injuries.
That danger is now highlighted by 9NEWS in Colorado as part of a story about a woman who suffered severe burns from a tabletop fire pit and the long work of rebuilding afterward. In a companion video, 9NEWS also featured an interview with Biren Law Group attorney Drew Biren, who has spent years litigating these cases and pushing to get the products off the market.
The situation is not isolated. It is one chapter in a nationwide pattern of flame-jetting incidents, recalls, federal warnings, and product-liability claims involving isopropyl alcohol-fueled tabletop fire pits.
Why These Products Are So Dangerous
Tabletop fire pits and firepots that burn pooled isopropyl alcohol look compact and controlled. The hazard is built into how they work. Users pour liquid fuel into an open bowl or reservoir and light it in the same place it was poured. When any flame or ember remains, and alcohol flames can be hard to see, fresh fuel can ignite instantly.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has warned that igniting pooled alcohol in an open bowl can create an uncontrollable pool fire. In that event, flames travel across the surface of the fuel and can suddenly become larger, hotter, and able to spread beyond the product itself.
Another dangerous result is flame jetting, in which a sudden burst of fire shoots burning liquid out of the container and onto people around the table.
Key risks include:
- Flame jetting during refill or relight. A fire that looks out may not be out. Adding fuel to a hot unit can produce an explosive flare.
- Invisible or low-visibility alcohol flames. People lean in, pour, or reach across the bowl without realizing a flame is still present.
- Extreme heat. Isopropyl alcohol can burn at temperatures above 1,600°F and cause third-degree burns in less than a second.
- Design that violates voluntary safety standards. The CPSC has stated that fire pits requiring consumers to pour liquid fuel into an open container and ignite it in the same location violate ASTM F3363-19, a standard meant to prevent pool fires and flame jetting.
- Missing or stripped warnings. On Flikr firepots, Biren Law Group pointed to the removal of a critical cooling warning in 2019. Safety guidance generally calls for a long cool-down, often about 45 minutes, before refueling.
Many units still on the market do not make that risk unmistakable.
These are not “user error” products in the way manufacturers often describe them. They invite ordinary use such as lighting, enjoying, refilling, and then punish that use with a mechanism that can fireball without a meaningful chance to react.
Federal Warnings Have Not Ended the Problem
On December 19, 2024, the CPSC issued a consumer alert covering the product category, not a single brand. The agency said liquid-burning tabletop fire pits, firepots, miniature fireplaces, and similar devices “are extremely dangerous and have been associated with two deaths and at least 60 injuries since 2019.” The CPSC told consumers to stop using the products and dispose of them, and told sellers to stop selling them.
That warning followed earlier actions, including:
- A recall of about 89,500 Colsen-branded tabletop fire pits after reports of flame jetting and flames escaping the container. The CPSC cited 31 such reports and 19 burn injuries, including third-degree burns covering more than 40 percent of some victims’ bodies.
- A warning against FLIKRFIRE tabletop fireplaces. The manufacturer, FLIKR LLC, was no longer in business and did not agree to a recall remedy.
Deaths tied to this product category include a New Hampshire couple, Herm and Thelma Stolzenburg, who were engulfed during a family gathering. Other publicly reported injuries have involved children roasting marshmallows, teens making s’mores, and adults simply trying to light a unit.
Despite the federal alert, similar devices have continued to appear under new names on major online marketplaces. As Drew Biren has said in the firm’s public comments on these products, when one brand is pushed off the market, another often takes its place. The design problem remains.
Biren Law Group’s Work in Tabletop Fire Pit Cases
Biren Law Group was among the first firms to pursue Flikr tabletop firepot cases and has been handling firepot and tabletop fire pit burn claims since 2019. Attorneys Andrew “Drew” Biren and Spencer Goldberg were instrumental in the government investigation that led to the CPSC’s FLIKRFIRE warning; an action the firm has described as the equivalent of a recall for that product and for similar designs.
The firm’s position has been consistent. These products should not be on store shelves or in online shopping carts. They should not be sitting on a family’s table. “Our goal is simple,” Drew Biren has said. “If we can help get this dangerous product off the market and save lives, then every step in this process will have been worthwhile.”
That work includes individual product-liability cases for people with serious burns, coordination with other firms handling similar claims, and public warnings so fewer families learn about flame jetting the hard way. The firm has recovered millions of dollars for clients injured by these products. Past results do not guarantee a future outcome, but they reflect a long record of holding manufacturers, distributors, and retailers accountable when a consumer product causes catastrophic harm.
As someone who has spent years handling these cases, Drew’s 9NEWS appearance continues that effort as he continues to shine a light on these dangerous products.
It’s clear: the product category is dangerous, the injuries are severe, and the companies that design, sell, and keep selling these devices should be held to account.
How Biren Law Group Helps People Injured by These Products
Burn injury cases against product makers and sellers are not intake-form claims. They require prompt evidence work and a plan that matches the medical and financial reality of a serious burn.
When Biren Law Group takes on a tabletop fire pit case, the work typically includes:
- Preserving the product and scene evidence. The unit, fuel bottles, packaging, receipts, and photos of the scene matter. So do witness accounts of how the device was used in the moments before the flare.
- Identifying every responsible company. Claims may reach the manufacturer, a brand that rebadged the same design, an online marketplace, and other sellers in the chain of distribution.
- Investigating prior incidents and warnings. Recalls, CPSC alerts, internal knowledge of flame jetting, and the decision to keep selling after those warnings can all be relevant.
- Building the medical and damages record. Burn care, grafting, therapy, disfigurement, lost income, and the effect on daily life are part of the claim, not an afterthought.
- Pursuing compensation on a contingency fee. Clients pay no attorney’s fee unless the firm recovers money for them.
People injured by these products may have claims for medical expenses, future care, lost wages, pain and suffering, scarring and disfigurement, and, in the most serious cases, wrongful death. The right claims depend on the facts of the incident and the law that applies.
If You or a Loved One Has Been Burned
If a tabletop fire pit, firepot, or isopropyl alcohol-fueled tabletop fireplace injured you or someone in your family, do not assume the incident was just an accident. Many of these devices were designed in a way that makes a sudden fire foreseeable.
Practical steps after an incident:
- Get medical care and follow burn-center treatment.
- Keep the product, fuel, box, and purchase records if it is safe to do so.
- Photograph injuries, clothing, and the area around the device.
- Write down what happened while the details are fresh.
- Speak with a product-liability attorney before giving a recorded statement to an insurer or the company that sold the product.
Biren Law Group represents people with catastrophic injuries and offers a free, no-risk consultation. If these products injured you or a loved one, contact our firm today at (888) 401-7141.
Stay informed. Stay safe. If you have already been harmed, get the help you deserve.