Care needed when using ethanol-fuelled firepots: McLeish

Ontario personal injury lawyer John McLeish tells CBC’s The National that his firm is handling seven instances where people were either severely injured or killed due to dangerous ethanol-fuelled firepots and portable fireplaces.

McLeish, a founding partner with McLeish Orlando LLP, tells the current affairs program the consequences of not following a product’s strict instructions — if there are any — shouldn’t be death or that someone is badly maimed.

“People are not going to use these products perfectly every time,” he tells The National.

‘Flame-jetting’

These injuries and fatalities can occur when refuelling an appliance that is not fully extinguished, and a flame is not readily visible, according to a safety video released by the Fire Marshal of Ontario. “Flame-jetting” occurs as fuel vapours ignite, resulting in a blowtorch effect.

This week, Health Canada issued a safety alert that certain types of ethanol-fuelled firepots and portable fireplaces are now prohibited as they pose a danger to human health and safety.

This comes on the heels of 12 flame-jetting incidents resulting in two deaths and 26 burn injuries to users and bystanders, CBC reports.

McLeish, who launched a $12-million negligence suit on behalf of the family of a woman who died in a 2016 flame-jetting tragedy, has long been calling attention to the serious and recognized hazard of ethanol-fuelled lamps.

The firm also represents the family of a woman who was in a medically induced coma, after being struck by a fireball from an ethanol-fuelled fire pot during a backyard party in Toronto.