Severe Burn Injuries Caused by Bioethanol-Design Fireplaces—An Overview on Recreational Fire Threats

Abstract

Commercially available bioethanol-fueled fireplaces have become increasingly popular additions for interior home decoration in Europe and more recently in the United States. These fireplaces are advertised as smokeless, ecologically friendly, and do not require professional installation, formal gas lines, or venting. Although manufacturers and businesses promote their safety, recent presentations of injuries have alerted the authors to the relevant danger bioethanol fireplaces can pose for the incautious user. Are bioethanol fireplaces going to become the future threat in domestic burn accidents beside common barbeque burns? A Medline literature search on barbeque and domestic fireplace accidents was performed to compare and stratify the injury patterns reported and to identify a risk profile for contemporary bioethanol-fueled fireplaces. To exemplify, two representative clinical cases of severe burn accidents caused by bioethanol-fueled fireplaces, both treated in the burn unit of the authors, are being presented. Design fireplaces are being recognized as an increasing source of fuel and fire-related danger in the home. This risk may be underestimated by the uninformed customer, resulting in severe burn injuries. Because bioethanol-fueled fireplaces have become more commonplace, they may overtake barbecue-related injury as the most common domestic burn injury.

Five-Year Experience With Burns From Glass Fireplace Doors in the Pediatric Population

“…Recently, bioethanol-design fireplaces have been gaining in popularity because they do not need to be connected to the gas supply. Kraemer et al 14 have reported on the dangers posed by these fireplaces to adults who are refueling them. These too have glass doors that might cause a similar problem.…”

Ethanol and Methanol Burn Risks in the Home Environment

“…Several researchers have reported on skin burns as a result of accidents involving biofuel heaters [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. During the literature study, some similar incidents were also found at educational demonstrations [ 29 , 30 ] and in dentist office treatments [ 28 ].…”

“…The study by Kraemer et al [ 22 ] presents two cases of patients presented to their intensive care unit in Germany succeeding burns related to bioethanol fuel. The first patient was a 45-year-old female with 30% total body surface area (TBSA) deep partial- and full-thickness flame burns involving the face, neck, right chest, thighs, and both arms and hands.…”

“…The patient was admitted for 14 days to their intensive care unit. The duration of the in-hospital stay until discharge was 4 weeks [ 22 ]. This burn accident clearly demonstrates the dangers of trying to refill the bioethanol fireplace while it is still burning.…”

“…However, soon after their introduction, patients injured while handling these units showed up at local burn treatment units. One of the first studies regarding these burn injury incidents was an overview of this new recreational fire threat published by Kraemer et al [ 22 ], who warned about an underestimated fire risk among the uninformed customers. Later on, several other research groups also reported that bioethanol design fireplaces were involved in severe burn injuries [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”