Gel or fluid based candles and firepots are a hot new summer decorating item, but they have been known to easily explode. If you refill the candles when they are still warm, or lit, an explosion of flying hot candle gel can be the result.
Recently, a fourteen-year-old boy was critically injured when he refilled a warm ceramic gel candle pot. The ceramic gel pot candles featured in this story were sold at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Click here to see the story on ABC’s Good Morning America. The New York Times also featured the boy’s story, along with a story of another man injured by the candles.
“We recommend not using these candles,” explains CCFR Chief Russ Mason. “The exposed flames, and fuel, present a very high risk for injury and property damage.”
This morning, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for NAPAfire and FIREGEL Pourable Gel Fuel. Those included in the recall were 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.
If you are using any type of outdoor candles they should be at least six feet away from any property and the flame should be enclosed. They should also not be used when small children are present.