Snow Peak recalled the lava rocks sold with its Takibi propane fireplace insert after one customer reported the rocks exploding. About 100 units are covered, sold on Snowpeak.com in July 2026 for about $350. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission published recall 27-021 on Oct. 8, 2026, and the company has offered a full refund or a set of replacement rocks.
The incident the agency recorded involved minor property damage, and the notice states that no injuries were reported. The recall is small, but the failure is one that can put burning fragments in the lap of whoever is sitting around a fire.
Takibi insert ST-332 and the lava rock fault
The CPSC notice identifies the product as the Takibi propane insert, model ST-332 (the U.S. version), plus its lava rocks, sold as accessories for Snow Peak’s Pack and Carry Fireplace L (ST-032) and XL (ST-034). The insert lets the fireplace burn propane instead of wood or charcoal. The agency says the lava rocks can ignite and explode when heated in the insert, and it received “one report of lava rocks exploding with one report of minor property damage.”
Snow Peak’s own recall page gives a cause the federal notice does not: the company says incorrect rock material was substituted at the factory in Taiwan. It says the rocks can combust or be ejected from the unit during use. That page narrows the sales window to July 28 and 29, with fewer than 100 units sold, and states that other Snow Peak stoves and grills are not affected. The CPSC lists the product as made in China and Taiwan and imported by the Portland, Oregon, arm of the company.
Porous lava rock and trapped steam
Lava rock is chosen for gas fire features because it is porous and heat-tolerant, and that same porosity is the usual cause when it bursts. Scott Cohen, writing in Watershapes about a fire feature at a water garden, described lava rock that soaked up splashes from a nearby waterfall: the water turned to steam inside the stone, and the pressure that built up inside the rock broke off heated fragments that flew out.
Snow Peak’s explanation is different and specific to its product, a wrong material rather than damp rock, and the CPSC does not state a mechanism of its own. What the federal notice does say is the consequence, a risk of serious injury or death from burns and fire, which is why the agency treats a single report as enough to act on.
A propane insert concentrates the problem. The rocks sit directly over the burner, so a fragment that shatters is already hot and is thrown from a flame, not from a cold grate. The CPSC page lists one incident, and none of the documents says how high the pieces traveled or where they landed. That gap matters for a product marketed for camping and patio gatherings, where people sit close to the fire and often within arm’s reach of the insert; the CPSC calls the harm burns and fire, and the one report it holds ended in minor property damage, not a burn.
Refund or replacement rocks, and a Fast Track filing
Owners are told to stop using the insert and lava rocks immediately and to contact Snow Peak. The firm will provide a prepaid return label for a full refund. A buyer who wants to keep the insert can instead receive replacement lava rocks, but the CPSC says not to use the insert until the new rocks arrive, and the company warns that rocks from other sources void the warranty. The recalled rocks are to be disposed of under local and state rules. The refund route is the more drastic of the two: it takes the whole propane insert out of service, while the rocks-only route leaves the buyer with the same burner and a fresh set of stones that Snow Peak ships out. Snow Peak tells owners to stop using the product even if it has worked without problems, an instruction aimed at owners whose insert has not yet failed.
The recall was filed under the agency’s Fast Track program, which its guidance describes as a voluntary path in which the firm submits a corrective action plan ready to be implemented within 20 working days. Questions go to Snow Peak at 888-424-4916, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific, Monday through Friday, or [email protected]. Reports about a similar product can be filed at SaferProducts.gov.
The notice sets the count at “about 100,” while Snow Peak’s page says fewer than 100 were sold over two days in late July. Neither document states how many of those units were returned or how many rocks the one reported incident involved.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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