Calif. man sues Amazon after tabletop firepit explodes in his face

A San Diego man is suing Amazon after a tabletop firepit exploded in his face last year, leaving him hospitalized for weeks, setting up a legal battle of whether the delivery giant can be held liable for products it doesn’t actually make.

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Anthony Trevino, a 31-year-old former search and rescue swimmer, suffered third-degree burns across his body after attempting to refill a Colson “Tabletop Rubbing Alcohol Outdoor Fire Pit,” according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday. Lawyers for Trevino say that Amazon failed to warn customers that the Colson model, recalled for safety issues in 2024, was capable of causing severe burns. 

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I never imagined a product sold to me as ‘safe and easy’ would do this to me in my own home,” Trevino said in a news release. “My whole life, my job was to pull people out of danger. I can’t undo what happened to me, but I can hold Amazon accountable to ensure they stop selling products that are so dangerous they can alter the course of someone’s life.”

On Sept. 17, 2025, Trevino was refilling his tabletop firepit after it appeared the flame had gone out. However, some leftover alcohol still burning was not visible to him when he poured in more fuel, causing a “flame jetting” explosion akin to a fireball blasting his face and body, hospitalizing him for weeks, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges the fireball was so powerful that it melted artificial turf and lighting on his balcony.

Lawyers for Trevino now say Amazon must pay damages for the injuries caused by a recalled product purchased on its online storefront, even though Amazon did not manufacture it. The case is part of an emerging legal theory that has triumphed in early California cases and could lead to Amazon facing massive legal liability for its marketplace, which averages more than 15 million orders every day.

A 2020 landmark decision by California’s 4th District Court of Appeal found that Amazon can be held liable for faulty products that third-party sellers push on Amazon’s platform. That decision was based on a case where a California woman alleged a laptop battery she purchased off Amazon exploded, causing her severe burns. Amazon argued that it could not be held liable because it was an online marketplace that did not “distribute, manufacture, or sell” the product. The state court disagreed, holding the massive tech company liable.

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The 2020 ruling on Amazon’s liability applies only in California, though the company is actively fighting similar interpretations in other cases across the country. A lawsuit making its way through federal court in Florida, , alleges similar liability for Amazon after a child was severely burned following a table top firepit accident.

Other countries have urged consumers to be wary of tabletop firepits due to concerns of flame jetting, where flammable liquids poured over direct flame produce fireball-like explosions. Western Australia effectively outlawed the product in 2017, and Canada banned some models in 2019. Short of a full-on ban, the U.S. issued a federal recall of the Colson firepit in 2024. While Amazon attempted to facilitate that recall, a process it’s legally required to do now for some products, its notice to customers only noted that the tabletop firepit “may not meet current mandatory or voluntary safety standards,” according to the lawsuit.

“Amazon decides what goes on its shelves, takes a cut of every sale, and they even told Anthony which fuel to buy,” Jeremy Robinson, an attorney for Trevino, said in a news release. “When you stock the shelf and ring the register, you own what happens to the innocent people whose lives are permanently altered.”

Work at Amazon and want to talk? Contact tech reporter Matthew Brown securely at [email protected] or matthewbrownsfgate.11 on Signal.