A small decorative fire feature that promised the glow of an open flame at the dinner table has become the subject of a nationwide safety action. Importer Southern Telecom Inc. is recalling roughly 48,700 Brookstone-branded tabletop fire pits after reports that the units can throw flames well beyond their concrete reservoirs, a failure that has already left two people with serious burns. The recall underscores a recurring hazard with a whole class of small alcohol-burning decor that has spread across discount and department-store shelves in recent years.
How the tabletop fire pits are supposed to work
The recalled products are compact indoor and outdoor fire pits built around a round or hexagonal concrete reservoir designed to hold burning liquid alcohol. Owners pour a fuel such as denatured or isopropyl alcohol into the open basin, light it, and treat the resulting low flame as ambiance for a table or patio. Because the fuel sits in an open pool rather than inside a sealed canister, the design leaves little margin for error when the container is refilled, tipped, or lit while embers remain.
Alcohol-fueled pieces like these occupy an awkward space in the consumer market. They look like candles or lanterns and are often marketed as gentle mood lighting, yet they burn an accelerant that spreads and pools. Regulators have repeatedly warned that liquid fuel can splash or leak during use and ignition, producing a flash fire that grows hotter and larger than the decorative flame a buyer expects.
The flame-jetting hazard driving the recall
According to the recall notice, use of the fire pits can trigger uncontrolled pool fires, in which flames race across the surface of spilled or pooled alcohol, as well as flame jetting from the fuel container. Flame jetting occurs when vapor inside or above a fuel source ignites and shoots outward in a sudden burst, and it is capable of causing serious or fatal burns to anyone nearby. That combination of an open fuel pool and the potential for a jetting burst is what elevates a tabletop novelty into a genuine fire risk.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Southern Telecom disclosed the action in a formal recall, assigned recall number 26-687, on August 13, 2026. The importer, based in Brooklyn, New York, said the fire pits were manufactured in China. The federal notice is the controlling record for the campaign and lays out the affected models and the remedy being offered to owners, as detailed on the agency’s recall database.
Injuries already reported
The recall was not issued on a theoretical risk. Southern Telecom has received two reports of flame jetting and flames escaping from the concrete container, and both incidents resulted in injuries, including second-degree and third-degree burns. Third-degree burns destroy the full thickness of the skin and typically require medical treatment, a severity that helps explain why the notice warns of the potential for fatal outcomes rather than minor scorching.
Consumer-safety officials have flagged nearly identical dangers with comparable products before. In 2025, a separate line of tabletop fire pits sold by discount retailer Five Below was pulled from the market over the same flame-jetting and fire hazards, with regulators warning that alcohol fuel could splash out during ignition and create a spreading flash fire. That earlier Five Below action signaled that the problem is tied to the category’s basic design, not to a single brand.
Which models are affected and where they sold
The recall covers three model numbers: BSFIREPIT01, carrying UPC code 680079015930; BSFIREPIT02, with UPC 680079015947; and BSFIREPIT03, with UPC 680079015954. The model number and UPC code are printed on the bottom of the product packaging, which allows owners to confirm whether an item they already own is included.
The fire pits were sold at Macy’s, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Indoff, iBuy, and Newton Buying Corp. stores nationwide, as well as online at Macys.com and other websites, from February 2023 through December 2024. Prices ranged from about $20 to $25, an accessible price point that helped the units reach a broad base of buyers and complicates efforts to reach every owner now that the products have been distributed across multiple national chains.
What owners are being told to do
The instruction from regulators is unambiguous: stop using the recalled tabletop fire pits immediately. Owners are directed to contact Southern Telecom to arrange a full refund. As part of the process, the notice asks consumers to email a photo of the fire pit with the word “Recalled,” their name, and the date written on it in permanent marker to the company’s support address, and then to dispose of the product. Owners are specifically warned not to sell or give away the units, because passing along a recalled product simply transfers the hazard to someone else. Federal law also prohibits the resale of any product subject to a recall.
Southern Telecom set up a toll-free line for questions and posted recall information on its website. For consumers weighing whether to keep any alcohol-fueled tabletop flame product, the pattern of injuries across brands suggests the safest course is caution, and the broader database of federal recalls remains searchable through the agency’s public warnings. The refund offer gives owners a way to recover the modest purchase price while removing a documented burn risk from the home.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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