A Summer Firepot, a ‘Safe’ Label, and Two Life-Altering Explosions

New York Times ^ | June 11, 2011 | DAVID M. HALBFINGER

[Second Amendment First]

They said it was like napalm: it exploded in a flash, stuck to skin and clothing, and refused to stop burning.

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.

“It’s just like gasoline in a bottle,” said Nancy Reyer, a single mother whose only child, Michael Hubbard, has been clinging to life in a hospital in Stony Brook on Long Island for nearly two weeks. “Watching my son just go up in flames like a tree — it just devastates me. I can’t get that image out of my mind.”

Relatives of the victims, and one survivor of the two local blazes, said the products came with understated warnings that gave no sense of how dangerous they could be to operate safely, and called for a recall or a ban.

[Second Amendment First]

My wife bought two of these, one for us and another for the daughter's family. If you have one please make sure anyone using it is aware of how easily this can happen.

It sounds like the bottles of gel could be weaponized with the addition of a fuse. Keep pests like flash mobs away at the beach.

[Lancey Howard]

It sounds like the bottles of gel could be weaponized with the addition of a fuse.

Hmmmm.... Yeah. That's exactly what I was thinking.

[null and void]

Check. Added to my Zombie Apocalypse shopping list...

[hiredhand]

Fire safety ping!

[Second Amendment First]

Napa Home & Garden Inc., which manufactures the firepots and packages the fuel, asked Bed Bath & Beyond on Friday to pull both products from store shelves until it could add much more visually arresting new warning labels to both.

Hope the zombies hold off till the new labels are ready.

[sockmonkey]

When the gel did not seem to catch on fire, the boy added more fuel — and it “exploded into a fireball,” according to Fran Reyer-Johnson, the bride. “There’s no wick,” she said. “That’s the problem. You don’t see that it’s lit.”

[PowderMonkey]

"but the quart bottle of fuel he was pouring instead burst into flames. "

Sounds like somebody poured fuel onto an open flame, with predictable results. In this case, I'd wager the flame was either light blue and difficult to see in ambient light, or perfectly clear like burning high grade alcohol. Giving, thereby, the impression that no flame was present.

[null and void]

Enterprising grape farmers produced liquid and semi-solid grape concentrates, often called “wine bricks” or “wine blocks”. This demand led California grape growers to increase their land under cultivation by about 700% in the first five years of prohibition. The grape concentrate was sold with a warning: “After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine.”

[Jack Hydrazine]

Amazon has it.
http://www.amazon.com/Napa-Firelite-NAPAfire-Citronella-Ounces/dp/B003IT66EO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307807120&sr=8-4

[Jack Hydrazine]

It’s another form of Sterno only more explosive!

[Repeal The 17th]

My mama says that during prohibition, the packets of yeast sold in the stores had the recipe on the back for making home-made mash, with a warning that following those directions would be a violation of federal law.

[Second Amendment First]

That is the case, the flame may not be visible leading one to believe it is out. As with all fire related items, caution should be used, but one simple error in judgement can be catastrophic.

[Repeal The 17th]

...gasoline, styrofoam, a glass bottle, and a rag?

[Second Amendment First]

Now that’s real “truth in labeling”.

[null and void]

yeah, something along the lines of do not mix this product with malted grains or sugars and allow to ferment, otherwise an illegal alcoholic beverage may result...

[BwanaNdege]

It seems that many “modern men” have not yet discovered fire!

Oh, well, back to the cave.

PS, NEVER pour volatile liquid fuel on a lit fire!

[null and void]

Were I them, I’d be inclined to add something to the mix that would colorize the flames.

[Squantos]

Screened in porch and ceiling fan bttt !.......:o)

Thank goodness I saved those 55 gallon drums of DDT !

[Lancey Howard]

Don’t forget the benzene.

[tet68]

Ivory soap flakes. Citronella oil (for the mosquitos).

Yes, 55 gallons seems like a lot but then we have a
lOT of mosquitos...