Gel Fuel Recalled By Nine Manufacturers & Distributors Due To Fire Hazard
Due to severe risks of flash fires and burns, nine U.S. manufacturers and distributors recalled pourable gel fuels in their product lines. Gel fuel products are used as an alternative to fire wood. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a release in June of this year notifying consumers of the dangers associated with using fuel gels.
The recent recall includes approximately 2 million product units of different pourable gel fuels encased in one-quart plastic bottles and one-gallon plastic jugs. The products were sold in non-scented and scented formulas for between $5 and $20 since 2008. They have proven to ignite without warning and spray onto people and items nearby when poured into a fire that is still burning.
The CPSC reported 65 incidents resulting in two deaths and 34 victims who were hospitalized with second and third degree burns to the chest, hands, arms, legs, and face. Twenty-eight of those accidents, including 37 burn injuries and two fatalities, occurred from the use if products made by Napa Home and Garden, which recalled its products in June 2011 in conjunction with the CPSC’s announcement.
The CPSC stresses that all pourable gel fuels pose serious fire and burn dangers but consumers are instructed to immediately stop using gel fuels recalled from the following nine companies:
- Bird Brain Inc.;
- Bond Manufacturing;
- Sunjel Company (2 Burn Inc.);
- Fuel Barons Inc.;
- Lamplight Farms Inc.;
- Luminosities Inc (Windflame);
- Pacific Dcor Ltd.;
- Real Flame; and
- Smart Solar Inc.
Consumers should contact companies individually for return and refund information, while retailers are required to remove the recalled gels from their stock. Have you been burned by a fire in Oklahoma that resulted from gel fuels? If so, the experienced dangerous products attorneys in Oklahoma City with Maples Law Firm may be able to help. Call (405) 705-5050 for a free review of your case.