13 fire accidents cause over 50 million won in damages
No safety standards in place for ethanol fireplaces
The Korea Consumer Agency (President Jang Deok-jin) and the National Fire Agency (Commissioner Lee Heung-gyo) have jointly issued a consumer safety alert regarding decorative fireplaces that use ethanol as fuel.
With the growing popularity of home-camping, many people are using ethanol fireplaces to relax indoors, such as at home, by gazing absentmindedly at the flames (a practice known as ‘bulmeong,’ or ‘flame-gazing’). However, over the past two years and three months, there have been as many as 13 fire accidents related to decorative fireplaces that use ethanol as fuel.
From 2020 through March 2022, a total of 13 fires caused by ethanol fireplaces were reported to the Consumer Agency’s Consumer Injury Surveillance System (CISS) and the National Fire Agency. These incidents left 15 people injured and resulted in property damage exceeding 50 million won.
The Consumer Agency investigated the specifications and labeling of 7 types of decorative ethanol fireplaces sold on the market and tested the products for safety.
Since Korea does not yet have safety standards for ethanol fireplaces, the investigation was conducted by applying Australia’s product specification standards (weight of at least 8 kg and a base contact area of at least 900 ㎠). As a result, all 7 of the products examined failed to meet the standards. Since 2010, Australia has received more than 113 reports related to decorative ethanol fireplaces, resulting in 36 house fires and 105 injury accidents, which led to the establishment and enforcement of safety standards.
In addition, when the surface temperatures of 3 major models by product type were measured, the maximum temperature rose to 293℃, and the average temperature of the upper section, which is directly affected by the flames, reached 175.5℃, confirming a very high risk of burns.
In a fuel leakage test on an inclined surface (10° slope), none of the 3 major models leaked fuel. However, in a tip-over reproduction test simulating the product falling over due to impact or other causes during use, the liquid ethanol fuel leaked out and flames spread along its path, indicating a very high fire risk.
Meanwhile, when an ethanol fireplace is used in a bright location, the flame is difficult to see, which may lead users to mistakenly believe there is no flame and refill the fuel. In this case, the flame can travel up the ethanol, posing a risk of explosion, fire, and burns, so caution is required.
However, an inspection of the labeling practices for the products examined, including their instruction manuals and product warnings, found that no product displayed any warning about this matter. Warnings related to fire or burns were also, in the case of some products, written only in a foreign language, indicating that the instruction manuals of all the products needed to be improved for consumers’ safe use.
Based on the results of this investigation, the Consumer Agency recommended that the relevant companies ▲clearly display warnings such as fire and burn hazards on the product exterior and in the instruction manual so that consumers can easily understand them, and ▲provide a dedicated fire-extinguishing tool. At the same time, it plans to request that the relevant government departments establish safety standards for ethanol fireplaces covering product specifications (weight, base contact area, etc.), product safety (fuel leakage, etc.), and warning and labeling requirements.
In addition, the agency urged consumers to ▲take care not to refill fuel while there is a flame, and ▲to refrain as much as possible from using the products in enclosed spaces and ▲in households with children or pets, taking into account the possibility of burns or tip-over accidents.