Anthony Trevino spent years as a U.S. Navy helicopter search-and-rescue swimmer, trained to handle other people's emergencies. Last September, on the balcony of his San Diego apartment, he faced one of his own: a tabletop fire pit he'd bought years earlier on Amazon erupted in his face the instant he added more fuel, leaving him with third-degree burns across his face, neck and upper body.
Trevino, 31, has filed a lawsuit against Amazon in California state court over the September 17, 2025 explosion, according to SFGATE. He was hospitalized for weeks, and the fireball was so intense that it melted the artificial turf and decorative lighting on his balcony, the outlet reports.
A Fire Pit Amazon Called Easy and Safe to Use
Trevino purchased the Colsen tabletop rubbing alcohol outdoor fire pit from Amazon in February 2021, along with two bottles of medical-grade isopropyl alcohol, according to a lawsuit reported by the New York Post. He says Amazon told him which fuel to buy, and the third-party seller assured him the product was safe; the Amazon listing itself described the fire pit as "easy & safe to use."
Trevino said he never imagined a product sold as safe and easy would injure him in his own home, according to the lawsuit.
How an Invisible Flame Turns Into a Blowtorch Blast
According to the lawsuit, Trevino assumed the flame had gone out in September 2025 and poured more alcohol into the reservoir — and the fuel exploded without warning the moment he did. Alcohol burns with a flame that is often invisible when it burns low, leaving no visual cue that the fire pit is still lit.
Federal safety regulators describe the phenomenon as flame jetting: external ignition causes fuel vapor trapped inside an open container to ignite explosively, hurling a blowtorch-like blast of flame back onto the user in under one second, according to the Federal Register. The mechanics help explain why a quick glance can't be trusted to confirm one of these pits has actually gone out.
Trevino suffered permanent scarring and nerve damage that now affects every part of his daily life, the lawsuit states.
A Recalled Fire Pit Amazon Allegedly Kept Selling
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled around 89,500 Colsen-branded fire pits in 2024, according to the lawsuit. Even so, Trevino's suit alleges Amazon sent him a recall notice warning only that the product "may not meet current safety standards," without disclosing the risk of severe burns, and claims Amazon has continued selling the fire pits regardless.
The scope of the danger shows up in federal injury data. The commission logged 31 complaints of flame jetting and escaping flames tied to Colsen fire pits, resulting in 19 burn injuries, including two victims who suffered third-degree burns over more than 40% of their bodies, according to CBS News. Six of those incidents required surgery, burn center admission, or resulted in permanent disfigurement, the outlet reported.
The commission's 2024 recall notice told owners to throw the fire pits away immediately, noting that Miami-based manufacturer Colsen Fire Pits LLC — which had acquired the brand less than a year earlier — had ceased operations and could offer no refund or replacement due to financial insolvency, per the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Two months later, in December 2024, the agency issued a nationwide consumer alert warning against liquid-burning tabletop fire pits that violate the voluntary ASTM F3363-19 safety standard, tying that entire product category to at least two deaths and dozens of catastrophic burn injuries. Separately, mandatory federal rules that took effect in July 2023 already required flame-mitigation devices on portable fuel containers like gas cans — a safeguard that open-reservoir tabletop fire pits were never required to include.
Bans Abroad and a Legal Fight Over Amazon's Liability
Tabletop fire pits like the one that burned Trevino have already been banned in countries including Australia and Canada, the lawsuit notes. Health Canada has issued public safety warnings and recall notices since at least 2019 over liquid-fueled firepots and the practice of fueling them with rubbing alcohol, years before U.S. regulators caught up with recalls of their own.
Trevino's attorneys argue Amazon cannot hide behind a distributor defense for products sold on its own site, pointing to California case law that has already narrowed that shield. In 2020, the state's Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled in Bolger v. Amazon.com, LLC that Amazon can be held strictly liable for injuries from defective products sold by third-party sellers when Amazon handles the storage, packing and shipping, according to FindLaw.
California Precedent Could Decide Amazon's Fate
The following year, the Second District Court of Appeal reinforced that standard in Loomis v. Amazon.com LLC, ruling that Amazon's position in the distribution chain exposes it to strict products liability even when a third-party vendor hosts the listing, per Dickinson Wright. In 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission went further, issuing an order designating Amazon a federal "distributor," expanding regulatory oversight and holding the platform responsible for recalling defective third-party goods, according to Compass Law Group.
The lawsuit alleges Amazon was aware of the fire pit's defects and takes a cut of every sale made through its site. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
