Urgent recall for trendy home décor product that's causing 'third degree burns'

Almost 100,000 firepits are being frantically recalled in the wake of multiple federal lawsuits filed by burn victims.

The table-top appliances from Miami-based Colsen have already burned 19 people, the company conceded Wednesday - as it issued a historic recall for 89,500 indoor and outdoor items.

So far there have been 31 reports of flame jetting and fire escaping the combustible containers, resulting in the injuries that continue to mount.

Seven models of Colsen-branded fire pits - varying in size from five to 18 inches - were named in the recall, after two incident resulted in third-degree burns. The fleet of pits had amounted to the company's entire catalog.

The victims, meanwhile, suffered burns on more than 40 percent of their bodies, the firm said - citing flash-fires that occurred while they refilled the firepits' reservoirs with alcohol.

'Our beautiful, fierce, incredible friend was in a horrible fire related accident resulting in burns on over half her body,' wrote Elizabeth Rogers, a friend of 36-year-old victim Kayla Hominski, in a pleading post to GoFundMe back in August.

'She is currently in a trauma burn unit in a medical coma healing from her injuries in PA, hours from her home. 

'We are asking for help for the... family while they incur medical, child care, hotel, and other expenses during these difficult weeks ahead.'

According to the post and a subsequent lawsuit, the fire pit made by Colsen Fire Pits LLC flared up when Hominski's husband Nicholas was refueling without warning in April, despite the device being billed as 'easy and safe.'

The woman went on to spend four weeks in a Pennsylvania hospital, at a trauma burn unit where she was put in a medically induced coma.

Now on the mend, Hominski was one of the two who suffered third-degree burns because of the devices, which are sold by firms like Wayfair and Amazon.

Similar incidents have been seen across the US and Canada as well, with Toronto's Tommy Dalton badly burned by  a 5-inch table top fire pit bought from Colsen 'when suddenly it exploded shooting flames like a blow torch,' his daughter Jess said.

'Luckily we were able to quickly put out the flames but he still suffered from burns on 6-8 percent of his body mostly on his leg and stomach,' she wrote on a September 15 Facebook post, recalling how the harrowing occurrence 'happened in an instant.' 

The doting daughter went on to warn onlookers not to buy the product - a warning that proved prophetic about a month before the US recall.

In July, a couple in Kentucky, Erin and Trevor Jones, filed another federal against Colsen, along with reseller Amazon, after the pair suffered severe burns from another defective fire pit. 

Vanessa and Gaines Womack, also in the Blue Grass State, filed a similar suit against Colsen, saying they were subject to similar injuring during an incident that saw them burned in April.

'At Colsen, we take safety very seriously,' a statement sent by the company on Wednesday said as it announced the recall.

The recall includes all Colsen-branded fire, it said - citing 'a risk of serious burn injury from flame jetting and fire spreading hazards.'

Officials went on to warn how alcohol flames 'can be invisible', and that alcohol can also splash, spill or leak out of the reservoir during use, causing a flash fire.

Such blazes 'can spread and create larger, hotter flames that can escape the unit,' the firm warned, as several of its products have been met with negative reviews.

In July 2023, one Amazon user wrote of Colsen's Table Top Fire Pit Bowl,' This item exploded when my 29 year old son lit it causing him to have to visit the ER.

'These need to be removed from the site immediately.' 

The mother shared a photo of what's purported to be her son's badly burned finger, as the device was one of several recalled Wednesday.

'These are super dangerous,' one user wrote just last month. 'I work in a hospital and two people have caught fire because of these do not buy serious burns possible death.

'Dangerous product!' another added the month before 'Can over ignite at any time.'

The person went on to claim to know of a house fire and death due to a flash flame wrought by a Colsen device.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed by the Womacks, one of at least two parties filing federal fire pit lawsuits, cited other reviews warning of 'the unreasonably dangerous nature of this product.'

The affected fire pits are all gray or black in color and are round, rectangular, hexagonal, square, or skull-shaped. 

Sold with extinguishers, multiple are meant to be used inside, and others outdoors.  

Upon announcing the recall, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said that there is no refund available for those who own these fire pits, as Colsen 'does not have the financial resources to offer a remedy to consumers.'

Some of the suits, meanwhile, name resellers like Wayfair as defendants, as the pits were previously sold by Colsen, Amazon, Wayfair, Walmart, Sharper Image, FlipShop, Grommet, Meta, and TikTok.

Prices had ranged from $40 to $90.