Tabletop fire pits in 53,500 homes can shoot flames and are being pulled off the market

Federal safety regulators told consumers to immediately stop using at least 53,500 Houswise tabletop fire pits that can produce sudden jets of flame capable of causing severe burns or death. The products, sold through Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and the company’s own website, include the Vesper, Altair, Quad, and Astra models. The action adds to a growing list of liquid-burning fire pit removals from the market, with the broader product category linked to two deaths and at least 60 injuries since 2019.

Flame jetting in alcohol-burning fire pits keeps recurring

The core danger with these products is a phenomenon called flame jetting, which occurs when a user pours flammable liquid over an active ignition source. The result is a rapid, violent flash fire. Federal laboratory testing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found that a flame jet can extend more than 6.5 feet, typically developing in less than five seconds after pouring begins and lasting less than one second. That speed leaves almost no time to react, and alcohol flames are often nearly invisible in daylight, making it harder for users to tell whether the fuel is still burning before they attempt to refill.

The Houswise warning is not an isolated product failure. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has flagged the same hazard pattern across multiple brands and retailers over the past year. A recall of about 89,500 Colsen fire pits documented 31 reports of flame jetting or flames escaping the device and 19 burn injuries, including third-degree burns covering more than 40% of a victim’s body, surgeries, and permanent disfigurement. A separate recall covered about 66,000 Five Below tabletop fire pits sold between April 2024 and August 2025, with at least one report of flames escaping the unit.

All three actions target the same product design: an open bowl into which users pour alcohol or another liquid fuel and ignite it in place. That design creates a pool of flammable liquid with a large exposed surface area. When a user adds fuel to what appears to be an extinguished bowl, invisible residual flames can ignite the stream of liquid traveling from the bottle, sending fire back toward the container and the person holding it. Even when no jet forms, spilled fuel can spread fire across a table or deck in seconds.

The CPSC’s broader warnings emphasize that the hazard is not limited to any one brand or retailer. In a wide-ranging consumer alert on liquid-burning fire pits, the agency tied these pooled-fuel devices to two deaths and dozens of serious burn injuries since 2019, many involving people who were standing nearby rather than operating the product themselves. Victims have included children and bystanders who were caught in sudden fireballs when fuel ignited unexpectedly.

Voluntary safety standard ASTM F3363-19 and its limits

The CPSC has identified these pooled-alcohol fire pits as violating the voluntary industry standard known as ASTM F3363-19. That standard governs portable outdoor gas-fired heating products, which typically use contained fuel sources-such as gas canisters or gel canisters-rather than open pools of liquid. The agency’s position is that devices requiring users to pour liquid fuel into an open bowl and ignite it in the same place fall outside the standard’s safety framework, because the design inherently encourages refueling near an ignition source.

The repeated recalls suggest the problem is not a single manufacturer cutting corners. Multiple companies, selling through different retail channels at different price points, produced devices with the same fundamental flaw: they rely on users to safely handle open containers of flammable liquid near an active or recently active heat source. The voluntary standard was not written to account for this refueling behavior, and the CPSC has, so far, stopped short of issuing a mandatory rule that would ban the design outright. Instead, the agency has relied on individual warnings and recalls, brand by brand, once incidents are reported or testing reveals noncompliance.

Congress addressed a related hazard in the Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2020, which required flame-arresting devices in portable fuel containers to prevent fire from propagating back into the container. But tabletop fire pits occupy a different product category, and no equivalent federal mandate currently governs their fuel-handling design. The gap means that new brands can enter the market with the same open-bowl design until the CPSC acts against each one individually, often after injuries have already occurred.

Safety advocates argue that the pattern of injuries points to a systemic problem: consumers reasonably assume that prominent online retailers only sell products that meet basic safety expectations. Yet voluntary standards and after-the-fact recalls leave significant room for hazardous designs to reach patios and living rooms. Without a clear, enforceable rule that prohibits open-bowl liquid-fuel fire pits or requires specific protective features, regulators are left to chase individual models as they appear.

What owners of these fire pits should do now

Anyone who owns a Houswise Vesper, Altair, Quad, or Astra tabletop fire pit should stop using it immediately, according to the CPSC. The agency advises consumers to store the product in a safe location away from living areas until they can determine whether a remedy-such as a refund or replacement-is available from the seller or manufacturer. Owners should also avoid attempting any do-it-yourself modifications, which are unlikely to eliminate the underlying hazard.

The same caution applies to any alcohol or liquid-burning fire pit that uses an open-bowl design, regardless of brand. If a device requires you to pour liquid fuel directly into an exposed basin and light it there, the CPSC’s warnings indicate that it presents a foreseeable risk of flame jetting during refueling. Consumers can search for their specific product at recalls.gov or on the CPSC’s website to see if a formal recall has been announced, and they can submit information about fires, near-misses, or injuries through the agency’s saferproducts portal.

For households that still want the ambiance of a small flame feature, safety officials recommend considering alternatives that physically separate the fuel from the user during normal operation. Options can include electric fireplaces, enclosed gas-fueled tables installed according to code, or decorative devices that use prefilled, sealed fuel canisters designed to meet existing standards. Regardless of the product chosen, it should always be used outdoors or in well-ventilated spaces, on stable, nonflammable surfaces, and away from children, pets, and combustible materials.

Until regulators close the gap between voluntary standards and the realities of how people use tabletop fire pits, the burden of avoiding these hazards will fall largely on consumers. The CPSC’s escalating series of recalls and alerts underscores a simple message: if a fire feature depends on repeatedly pouring liquid fuel into an open flame, the safest course of action is not to light it at all.

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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.