Napa Home & Garden Recalls NAPAfire and FIREGEL Pourable Gel Fuel Due to Fire and Burn Hazards

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Pourable NAPAfire and FIREGEL Gel Fuel bottles and jugs

Units: About 460,000 bottles and jugs

Distributor: Napa Home & Garden, of Duluth, Ga.

Hazard: The pourable gel fuel can ignite unexpectedly and splatter onto people and objects nearby when it is poured into a firepot that is still burning. This hazard can occur if the consumer does not see the flame or is not aware that the firepot is still ignited. Fuel gel that splatters and ignites can pose fire and burn risks to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Napa is aware of 37 reports of incidents, including 23 burn injuries to consumers.

Description: The product is a clear, pourable gel fuel packaged in clear one-quart plastic bottles and one-gallon plastic jugs and sold in non-scented and citronella scents. The fuel is poured into a stainless steel cup in the center of firepots or other decorative lighting devices and ignited.

Sold at: Bed Bath & Beyond, Shopko, Restoration Hardware, specialty and gift shops, furniture stores, and home and garden stores nationwide, as well as through Amazon.com, home and garden catalogs, and home decorators and landscape architects between December 2009 and June 2011 for between $5 and $78.

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the pourable gel fuel in firepots and return all bottles or jugs to the retailer where the consumer purchased the fuel for a full refund. A retrofit for the Napa brand firepots is being evaluated and may be available in the near future.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, call Napa Home & Garden at (888) 893-2323 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, visit Napa’s website at http://www.napahomeandgarden.com/ or write to Napa, 3270 Summit Ridge Parkway, Suite 240, Duluth, GA 30096-1617

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on www.saferproducts.gov

CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

Under federal law, it is illegal to attempt to sell or resell this or any other recalled product.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, go online to: www.saferproducts.gov, call CPSC’s Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain this news release and product safety information at www.cpsc.gov. To join a free e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx.

If you or anyone you know has experienced similar events or have been injured by a gel fuel type outdoor burner contact us today while compensation may still be available. Toll-Free: (888) 422-2882

The State Fire Marshal’s Office encourages consumers to stop using the product immediately. The pourable gel fuel can ignite unexpectedly and splatter onto people and objects nearby when poured into a firepot that is still burning. The product was sold under the names NAPAfire and FIREGEL at retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Shopko and Amazon.com between December 2009 and June 2011.

Napa Home & Garden is offering full refunds to consumers who return all bottles or jugs to the retailer where the product was purchased. For additional information, call Napa Home & Garden at (888) 893-2323 or visit their website at www.napahomeandgarden.com.

Currently our office is investigating claims of gel fueled firepot accidents. Contact us today and let us help you or someone you know with your claim.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Napa Home & Garden Recalls NAPAfire and FIREGEL Pourable Gel Fuel Due to Fire and Burn Hazards

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Pourable NAPAfire and FIREGEL Gel Fuel bottles and jugs

Units: About 460,000 bottles and jugs

Distributor: Napa Home & Garden, of Duluth, Ga.

Hazard: The pourable gel fuel can ignite unexpectedly and splatter onto people and objects nearby when it is poured into a firepot that is still burning. This hazard can occur if the consumer does not see the flame or is not aware that the firepot is still ignited. Fuel gel that splatters and ignites can pose fire and burn risks to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Napa is aware of 37 reports of incidents, including 23 burn injuries to consumers.

Description: The product is a clear, pourable gel fuel packaged in clear one-quart plastic bottles and one-gallon plastic jugs and sold in non-scented and citronella scents. The fuel is poured into a stainless steel cup in the center of firepots or other decorative lighting devices and ignited.

Sold at: Bed Bath & Beyond, Shopko, Restoration Hardware, specialty and gift shops, furniture stores, and home and garden stores nationwide, as well as through Amazon.com, home and garden catalogs, and home decorators and landscape architects between December 2009 and June 2011 for between $5 and $78.

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the pourable gel fuel in firepots and return all bottles or jugs to the retailer where the consumer purchased the fuel for a full refund. A retrofit for the Napa brand firepots is being evaluated and may be available in the near future.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, call Napa Home & Garden at (888) 893-2323 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, visit Napa’s website at http://www.napahomeandgarden.com/ or write to Napa, 3270 Summit Ridge Parkway, Suite 240, Duluth, GA 30096-1617

—

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on www.saferproducts.gov

CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

Under federal law, it is illegal to attempt to sell or resell this or any other recalled product.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, go online to: www.saferproducts.gov, call CPSC’s Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain this news release and product safety information at www.cpsc.gov. To join a free e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx.

A 14-year-old Long Island boy is fighting for his life after he was slathered with blazing, jellylike citronella fuel on May 28, when his cousin tried to light a ceramic firepot to prepare for a backyard wedding reception, but the quart bottle of fuel he was pouring instead burst into flames.

In Manhattan, a 24-year-old man has been on and off a ventilator after an almost identical blaze nearly killed him and badly wounded his best friend on June 3 as they were relaxing on the friend’s terrace.

The two accidents, less than a week apart, involved the same product: a gel fuel for ceramic firepots, scented with citronella to ward off insects on hot summer nights, and purchased from Bed Bath & Beyond.

The fuel is marketed by the retailer as FireGel, “the Safe Pourable Gel.” But survivors and witnesses to the two blazes likened it to a Molotov cocktail without so much as a wick.

Full story Here

If you or someone you know has suffered burns or been harmed by fire pots, fuel gel, fire gel or exploding candles, you or they may be entitled to money damages. Please contact us today at 877-882-0095 or visit us at www.mydeniedclaim.com, or click on our contact page.

If you or anyone you know has been injured by a fire pot accident, call us today at 877-882-0095

The Consumer Product Safety Commission launched an investigation into burn accidents related to gel fuel use in firepots, the organization said in a press release on June 14.

The CPSC warned consumers of the burn and poisoning accidents that can occur while adding gel fuel to firepots, patio torches, and other products.

The investigation, which is ongoing, comes in the wake of a number of reported burn accidents involving firepots. Last week, The New York Times reported about two separate incidents in New York that occurred on May 28 and June 3. In those incidents, products made by Georgia-based Napa Home & Garden caused severe burns to three individuals that left them hospitalized.

Following the news, The Times received reports about six other accidents that have occurred across the country since April 2010. In those accidents, eight individuals were burned by products made by either Napa Home & Garden or BirdBrain, according to The Times.

Napa Home & Garden last Friday asked Bed Bath and Beyond, its biggest retailer, to stop selling its products for the time being. On Monday, the company issued a press release announcing it had put a “precautionary hold” on sale of its products while while it reaffirms both their safety and the adequacy of their warning labels.

But Don Mays, our Senior Director of Product Safety, said that warning labels may not be the answer here. “The product should not result in explosions and severe burns in the event that the warning labels are not read or heeded,” he said.

The CPSC warned against adding fuel to open flames and hot candles, saying it could cause fuel splattering or uncontrolled fires. Instead, the agency recommended adding fuel only when flames are extinguished and the product is cool to the touch.

The CPSC also recommended that consumers keep the gel fuel secured and out of the reach of children because most gel fuels consist of petroleum distillates, a specific class of hydrocarbon chemicals. If ingested, hydrocarbon chemicals can cause chemical pneumonia, pulmonary edema, or death, the press release said. It’s also important to replace the child-resistant cap after use.

Consumer Reports Story Here

Exploding firepots are ceramic firepots filled with either a scent-free or citronella pourable gel in order to ward off insects. The clear, pourable gel fuel is packaged in clear one-quart plastic bottles and one-gallon plastic jugs. The fuel gel is poured into a stainless steel cup in the center of the firepot or other decorative lighting device and ignited. Under certain conditions, the firepots explode and the blazing jellylike pourable gel explodes like a Molotov cocktail. Napa Home & Garden exploding clay firepots, Fuel Barons’ exploding fuel gel, and BirdBrain’s exploding firepots cause serious second- and third-degree burns to those near the exploding ceramic firepots.

Why You May Have A Case

The firepot explosions occur when victims add more fuel to the ceramic or clay pots when a small to invisible flame is still burning. The warning labels affixed to the product are on the outer wrapping of the packaging and are often immediately thrown away at a time after the initial setup  when refilling the firepot is far from the mind of consumers. Exploding firepot lawyers and we here at Bunch and James believe that the warning and packaging of these products is inadequate to warn consumers, resulting in manufacturers of these firepots and gel fuels being liable to the victims of these products for their injuries.

On June 22, 2011, the CPSC announced a pourable gel fuel recall of the Pourable NAPAfire and FIREGEL Gel Fuel bottles and jugs, to reduce the risk of serious burns caused by the exploding ceramic gel pots going forward. Retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Shopko, Restoration Hardware, will no longer sell the exploding firepots. Currently only refunds and returns are offered for these products, but compensation for injuries suffered as a result of these products is only available through a lawsuit with the company. Bunch and James is currently involved in exploding firepot litigation and case evaluations and invites you to contact us today for more information and a no obligation case evaluation. If you or a loved one has used a pourable exploding firepot or firegel gel fuel and suffered injury, contact us today. Toll-Free: (888) 422-2882 Tel: (256) 764-0095 Fax: (256) 767-5705

The warning Tuesday from the agency that regulates thousands of consumer products comes after reports of two incidents in the last few weeks in which firepots exploded in flames as someone was pouring a gel-like fuel into them. Both victims, a teenager and a man in his 20s, suffered serious injuries.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s warning also cautions about tiki torches and the fuels used in them.

“CPSC staff want all consumers to stay safe this summer by never pouring the fuel into an already lit firepot or tiki torch,” said Scott Wolfson, chief spokesman at the safety commission.

The commission said it has received at least eight reports of injuries or damage from firepots or fuel gel since April 2010.

CPSC also urged consumers to take extra precaution when storing the fuels for the pots and torches to ensure they are out of the reach of children.

The accounts of the two firepot accidents in New York were first reported by The New York Times, which said both incidents involved pots and a jellylike fuel from Napa Home & Garden Inc.

The Atlanta-based company said in a statement that it has issued a “precautionary hold” on sales of its firepots and gel fuel in response. It added: “We have sold tens of thousands of Fire Burners and fuel during the last two years and have always considered them safe products.”

Bed Bath & Beyond also said Tuesday that it has instructed its stores nationwide to suspend selling the ceramic pots and fire gel fuel as it investigates the products.