Health Canada Warns Canadians Of The Potential Fire Hazard Of Portable Firepots Sold On UBuy

Product:  Xbeauty Tabletop Fireplace and Rectangular Fire Pit sold on the Ubuy online store.

Issue:  These two products were found to pose a fire or burn hazard, and are missing appropriate labelling and hazard information.

What to do: Immediately stop using these products and contact the manufacturer for further information or your municipality for instructions on how to dispose of the products.

Issue

Following Health Canada’s decision in 2019 that certain firepots that use pourable fuels pose a danger to human health or safety, the Department recently completed a national compliance and enforcement project on portable firepots.

While the flames in these firepots may seem less intense or more controlled than traditional wood-burning fires, there are serious risks involved with using these products. When you pour liquid or gel fuels into a portable fireplace, firepot, or a fondue fuel reservoir that is still burning or hot, the vapour inside the fuel container can ignite, and flames can violently shoot out of the container onto nearby people or objects. For more information, please see this information on flame jetting.

Various firepot recalls were posted on the Healthy Canadians website on May 21, 2021, July 2, 2021, July 7, 2021 and July 12, 2021. In addition, two products sold on UBuy were also found to pose a fire or burn hazard with an unacceptable risk of flame jetting, and are missing appropriate labelling and hazard information.

Health Canada is advising Canadians to immediately stop using these two products.

Affected Products

Health Canada will update this list should there be additional recalls or communications related to portable firepots sold on www.you-buy.ca.

What consumers should do

• Immediately stop using the affected products and contact the manufacturer for further information or your municipality for instructions on how to dispose of the products.
• It is possible that consumer products bought online are prohibited, counterfeit, not as advertised, poor quality, recalled, mislabelled (e.g., display the wrong hazard symbols, first aid statements or ingredients), or may not work as they should. For more information, please consult our tips on buying consumer products online.
• When purchasing a portable firepot, look for one that uses single-use fuel canisters or gel fuels that aren’t pourable, which eliminate the risk of flame jetting.
• If using a portable firepot that requires pourable fuel containers to refill:
  • Only use pourable fuel containers with a flame arrester, which resembles a screen that is built into the container opening.
  • Never pour fuel over a flame. Some fuels will burn in a way that makes flames difficult to see, especially when a low amount of fuel is left in the portable firepot.
  • Make sure the portable firepot has cooled before refueling. Use a snuffer or something similar to be sure the fire is out.
• Other safety considerations for portable firepots and pourable fuels:
  • Use portable firepots on level ground or on a stable, level surface at a safe distance from people and flammable items. Flame jetting occurs very quickly, so the user and/or bystanders are unable to react quickly enough to move away from an oncoming flame jet.
  • Keep pourable fuels tightly capped when not refuelling and away from any flames or other objects that can create a spark.

What Health Canada is doing

In the fall of 2019, Health Canada determined that certain containers of pourable alcohol-based fuels and certain firepots that use pourable fuels pose a danger to human health or safety under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act. Consequently, Health Canada asked that industry stop selling these products of concern and undertook public awareness efforts on firepot safety.

To verify that industry is following safety standards, Health Canada has conducted compliance verification on pourable alcohol-based fuels and certain portable firepots as part of a planned national compliance and enforcement project spanning two years. As part of this project, Health Canada’s inspection program found that the affected products do not meet labelling and hazard information requirements. The products were originally found online at UBuy (www.you-buy.ca); however, it appears the products are no longer available on the website. The Department is working to identify a Canadian connection to the company.

To date, no incidents or injuries related to these products have been reported to Health Canada.

Health Canada is committed to help protecting Canadians from potentially dangerous consumer products. The Department regularly monitors consumer products on the Canadian market and will continue to do so to help keep consumers safe.