WARNING! Before you scroll down I want to let you know that the pictures below are pretty intense. If you have a weak stomach or if you’re easily grossed out then this is your chance to navigate away from this page and visit a less graphic posting – try the Halloween Tokyo 2009 post instead.
Now that I’ve warned you about the pictures I’m going to warn you about something else that will hopefully help you, or someone you know, avoid going through the same trauma that my wife and her family went through.
It was my wife’s last day with her family in Vancouver, Canada before going back to Japan. And like many Japanese celebrations this one involved food… lots of food.
Yakiniku (grilled beef) it was – so out came the meat and veggies and we fired up the portable gas stove that we see used in many restaurants and households in Korean and Japanese influenced parts of the world.
Just as we had done hundreds of times before for yakiniku, sukiyaki, shyabu shyabu or nabe parties – we all gathered around and cooked our food on the gas stove which was placed in the center of the table. The marinated meat and tons of little side dishes, Kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), Chapchae (stir fried noodles) and Namul (seasoned spinach), that we bought from the local Korean market were delicious.
After cooking for a while the house started to get a little smokey so we opened the windows. The cool breeze felt great and the smoke quickly cleared.
We were just about to wrap things up. The kids had already eaten and they were playing with their Transformers on the other side of the room. The adults were grilling the last of the meat, drinking a couple beers and chit chatting… and that’s when it happened.
A flash of orange followed by a deafening bang! The butane canister inside to the portable gas stove had exploded. One side of the table… the side where my wife, her mom and sister were sitting, was engulfed in flames. Before they could react a monstrous fireball of burning gas wrapped around them and tumbled towards the ceiling and out the window. After the initial explosion, the gas from the canister which covered the girls was still burning. They were on fire. We were all in shock… then came the panic and screaming…then crying. The smell of burnt skin and hair was overwhelming.
My wife’s father made sure the kids were OK… then we got wet towels to cool the burns. We called 911 and, after what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance and fire trucks arrived. The three girls were rushed to the hospital and treated for severe burns.
Below are photographs taken of my wife shortly after the incident.
This pictures was taken before the skin peeled. She has severe scars on both of her hands and back. Going to the beach and sunbathing is no longer an option. If she goes in the sun for even a short period of time she must wear the strongest protection, SPF-85 sunblock. Her skin is scarred badly and any sunlight will just make the scarring worse.
The flames wrapped around her body and burned her back and shoulders. She was wearing a tank top at the time of the accident so that didn’t help. Can you imagine what it was like to take a shower after being burned like this? Looking at these pictures brings back horrible memories.
Here’s a picture of the actual portable gas stove that exploded. The insurance company determined that the stove was faulty – the gas canister was too close to the flame causing it to become hot and explode. Both the manufacturer of the stove and the Canadian distributor, which were both based in Korea, are nowhere to be found.
Needless to say we will not go to a restaurant that uses any type of portable gas stove. Our family and all of our friends have thrown away their butane stoves and we now use a safe electric grill instead.
If you know someone who uses a portable gas stove then please share this link with them.
Been using this sort of thing for YEARS with no problems.
That one was MADE IN KOREA.
We were using them for years with no problems too :)
I’ve been using one for about the better part of a year now and I haven’t noticed anything bad. This is the first time I’ve read this story online. I thought it was just an urban legend.
whew, never used one and hopefully never will.
Oh my goodness! I used one for years in my old apartment. Now I have a proper burner so I don’t need to worry but I would throw out a portable after seeing what happened to your family. That really is horrible. Thanks for sharing this and hopefully helping prevent the same thing happening to someone else!
You’re easily startled I may say. More information gathered would indeed make your life less scary than just reading something unverified on the internet.
Sigh.
Regards.
Unverified? what does that mean??
I’m a caterer and we have always used butane stoves at events. I have seen one blow up at a wedding in the face of our chef. That was minor. Tonight, the same thing happened to me. I noticed that the griddle was extremely hot so I checked to see if the stove was still on. It had been turned off. As I was coming to a standing position, the stove blew up. All I can see was a huge fire explosion followed by a bang. It happened so fast that I had no time to react. Luckily, my front hair burnt. I was in shock. Time past and got a huge headache, eyes are blurry, and light bleeding in my ear. I got lucky! Please, if you use any butane stoves, be very careful!!
What brand was it? I am planning to buy a Iwatani butane stove (12,000 BTU). But now I am getting cold feet.
Absolutely terrible event, but the question it raises is,
How commonly does this occur?
I was at a Nabe party in Kyoto not so long ago where I sat for hours in front of one of these.
I noticed how my Japanese friend who came with me casually exchanged the fuel canister, even though it was not his device. I remember thinking that this must be something that everyone in Japan is very familiar with.
Are these explosions regular events?
Have any recall orders ever been issued for specific models?
I will definitely avoid sitting close to one unnecessarily, but I’ll also hope this is a rare occurrence.
I plan to ask several Japanese friends and see if this is a known risk and/or a commonly heard of catastrophe.
@Savage Japan
My wife’s family and her friends have never heard of this happening before. But the fireman who came to the scene said that he had seen MANY people get burned badly by various types of propane gas stove & grill explosions.
To our knowledge no recalls have been issued for the model that we were using.
Although Kaori is embarrassed to have her pictures shown to the world in this condition, we both feel it’s important to let others know. If one accident can be avoided because of this posting then it’s worth it.
BTW: The canister that exploded was almost empty.
Despite an enthusiasm for adrenaline inducing, “risk taking” activities, I’m still known as an obsessive safety nut by my friends. This posting has left a strong impression and as a result, I’m sure I will definitely change my behavior in Japan in the future.
I hope Kaori’s recovery is going well.
Wow, I’m speechless. I hope Kaori recovers well and you’ve really convinced me to never use portable gas cookers. It’s unfortunate that the company that created them is nowhere to be found :(
On the other side, I’m glad that her vision was not affected, I know, the damage is terrible both physically and psychologically, but when I first started reading I got all nervous and expected something worse >_<
Thanks for sharing it with us — I promise to you I’ll never use one of those in my life (I love to cook and yes, I use gas)
Terrible accident…
Hope Kaori will recover well!
@Hao
@Savage Japan
Thanks for your thoughts. Kaori, her sister and mom are all pulling through. They’ll be OK. The three of them had similar wounds. The three of them in the photos look like a Halloween party.
It was a horrible event… but it could have been a lot worse. Thank goodness my nephews didn’t get hurt.
Has anyone else heard of this happening?
@Muza-chan
Thank you for your thoughts.
Wow. That’s really awful. I hope she recovers well too.
I’ve always worried about those things. I have an electrical one that I bought for about 3000 yen. And then you don’t need to buy new gas cans either.
That is really awful. Burns are scary. (My brother suffered severe burns on most of his body and required extensive skin grafting when his apartment was lit ablaze by an arsonist 2 years ago. He lost all he owned and had to suffer through the healing process.) I think I’ll leave gas cooking to my non-portable kitchen range, and I’ll follow your lead and go electric with the more mobile food.
@Deas
That’s horrible about your brother. I can’t imagine how painful it would be to burn like that. I know how bad a sunburn can throb. I hope I never find out the pain fire can inflict.
Kaori is doing much better. She’s surprised how many people are reading this post and commenting on it. Sooner or later she’ll comment about it herself (hint).
What was the brand of that portable gas stove? I did a search on portable Korean gas stoves and most of them had a cheap price tag.
I am a firm believer in that you get what you pay for. The portable gas stove I purchased was around $70 and from a Japanese manufacturer.
Sorry to here about your story 8(
@Jeff
The brand was “GoldStone” and it was imported by a company called P&K Trading.
Just wanted to leave a note of thanks to all of you who left comments and thoughts and concerns for my family and I. It was a tragic accident but we are lucky to be able to sit here and write about the incident to educate people of the dangers of using butane gas stoves.Our family like many Asian families used these stoves almost every week for Yakiniku or Shabu Shabu (hotpot) and never had any problems.
After investigation, the stove was indeed faulty. The conclusion was that the postion of the butane gas canister in the stove made the canister overheat and explode. Despite having evidence that proved the explosion was 100% the fault of the manufacturer, we could not locate them nor the importer, even with the help of lawyers. We were told that these stoves are made in Korea by so many different companies that go out of business so frequently that it would be like finding a needle in a haystack…so we were left with nothing but scars and memories. There was nothing else we could do.
It only takes one incident like this to change your whole life and by sharing this experience with you guys I’m hoping you will spread the word about the dangers of using butane gas stoves. Throw them out if you have one and buy the electric ones that work just as good.
Kaori,
My Name is David and I work for Health Canada, Product Safety.
Yesterday, Someone asked me about this incident after seeing the website.
Would you be able to give me a call at 604-666-3818 or email me at david_hsin@hc-sc.gc.ca
Thanks,
David
Wow that’s really horrible, even worse that the manufacturer is out of business. One probably exploded in a test and they disbanded the manufacturer before lawsuits could arise.
I was a boy scout for about 3-4 years and we used portable stoves all the time. Now that i look at all of models I’ve seen I see the design in safety . The portable i own is really small, enough for one small pot or cup of water. On It the fuel sits below the flame and is a good 2-3 inches from it. Even the big dual burners have the fuel fed to it through a hard pipe that keeps the fuel about 6-7 inches away from the flame. I always wondered why they used the hard piping and not a flexible type metal hose.
Also the gas in portables should be changed , it’s usually butane, a lighter fluid. Propane is a little safer because it turns to a gas once it decompresses. You get a big boom but no fuel fires.
They are not as safe as an electric, and if you can use an electric. If you have to buy a gas stove for camping or any other reasons i suggest getting a brand name model like coleman. They make all sorts of camping stuff and they often come with a safety garantee.
My mum sent me this article in a forward today and I noticed your URL in the images attached so clicked through here. I’m horrified this had to happen to your wife and family. Thanks for writing this article… I never knew there were a lot of cases of people being severely burned by their portable stoves nor aware that these things are dangeous. My family has always used portable gas stoves for steamboat (chinese shabu shabu) during family gatherings but never have we had an incident like this.
From now on, I’ll use a portable electric stove with a safety guarantee! Hope Kaori, mum and sister are doing alright…
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Did the insurance company say that the design of stove was faulty (instead of just that particular stove was made wrong)? If yes, did the stove have any safety marking, either CE, UL, or CSA? If both yes, I think you and/or Kaori probably can sue the institution giving the safety certificate.
GET WELL SOON KAORI
GOD BLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s a faulty canister, not the stove.
If you ever use one of this stoves, you know the canister is COLD to touch when the stove is burning. Reason is simple: when the gas is decompressing, it “absorbs” heat – that’s how refrigerator works.
The only explanation I can think of is that the canister was leaking gas and got ignited and exploded. There is nothing wrong with the design of the stove.
@urgh
Thanks for your opinion. I’ll be sure to inform the experts who investigated the incident and examined all of the equipment involved that they were wrong in their reports.
Very sorry to hear about this accident. What kind of pan/griddle was being used when this happened? Was it big enough to overhang the gas compartment?
It wasn’t overhanging the gas compartment. If you look at the last picture in the posting you can see the actual stove that exploded. I think it was called GoldStone.
I am really sorry to hear what your wife and her family went through. Do take plenty of fruits and vitamin C for faster skin healing.
I occationally use this type of gas stove for ‘Steam Boat’, and the stove are stored for months before being use again. When I read your article, I realise this can be quite dangerous as the stove and gas might be faulty after not being use for long period.
Many people in Brunei are using this type of stove for steam boat party and in restaurant too, Some of the stove sold here are Made in China, which is really scarry, when we remember all the incidence regarding safety in China. However I have never heard of any explosion regarding this in Brunei.
Thank you for sharing this with us. I think I will use the electrical type in future. Previously we were using electrical pot but I was afraid that the kids might trip on the wire.
It was happened to my friend, but luckly it does not got fire! The fuel canister explored when he exchange the empty. He found out that can make in China!
Never knew it was made in Korea. Thought it was made in China for they like to take shortcut and not test it out first. They care to send to stores to make money. Korea design is not good also.
Thank you for sharing. We wish Kaori get well soon.
I’M FEEL SOORY FOR THIS INCIDENT HAPPEN.
TO FIND OUT THE REASONS THAT CAUSING IT.PLS CLAIM FOR LOST FROM CORRELATIVE PARTY.THE ORIGINAL MANUFACTURE CAN NOT MISS.
TO MY UNDERSTANDING.THE CANISTER WILL COLD WHEN USING HALF AN HOURS,I GUESS,THERE IS SOME THING ELSE THAT OVERHEAT NEAR THE CASINSTER.OR THE PAN OR POT COVER THE WHOLE STOVE.
was cooking with a portable stove when camping, then a big yellow/green flash which luckily blew me out of the tent, lost tent and all belongings in less than 5 mins. 7 days in hospital. 6 weeks on and hands are still tender. ps. i belive my gas canister was also nearly empy!!!!
Dear Billy,
Sorry for Kaori’s suffering. Not too many people realize what an eight ounce can of butane has the power to do. You had said the maker and seller were overseas. It must have been purchased in Canada from someone. There is also a CSA marking on the stove. http://www.csa-international.com has a web site for just this type of reporting and CSA can find the maker quickly. Goldstone is just the brand name and the dangerous part if you do not do anything else is I have seen the same stove about to enter the USA market under a widely known company that is different than Goldstones.
Your insurance company was only right that the can got too hot but the stove should have shut itself off at about a pressure of 60 psi. The can failure would not happen until 270 psi. If you need any help going through the steps to find the responsable party, I can help but Kaori’s recovery will be painful but also very expensive.You should not be paying for it.
Did your insurance cover the medical expenses and damages?
Heartbreaking to see that, Billy. Best wishes on the road to the best recovery possible.
Thank you Billy. She’s just fine now but still has scarring.
That’s terrible. Poor girl. I hope she recovers quickly and without scarring. After seeing this I don’t think I could sit at a table and cook on a hot-pot stove again.
I’ve never used a portable gas stove and after seeing this I’m sure I never will. We have a portable electric grill that works well, so we only mess with fire when we’re lighting candles. I hope your wife recovers well, luckily her eyes weren’t damaged!
Thanks for reading. I thought about her eyes first too. I don’t know how they didn’t get burned. Electric is much safer. After posting this I’ve heard about several incidents involving gas grills or stoves. These things are dangerous!
Hello to both of you, what a terrible thing to be burned so badly, such a beautiful girl, perhaps plastic surgery may help a little when she heals, you all must feel like putting your hands around some ones throat but don`t know who. I am in tears looking at the photos so I can imagine how you all must feel. I am glad you went public with this also the fact you cannot find who is responsible., My best to all of you. Alice MacSween from Canada
Geeze, so sorry to hear about that. I hope the recovery is going well? It must have been so hard, and you must have been so angry.
I’m from Vancouver, and am used to going to restaurants with the gas can stoves on the tables. Mostly Korean restaurants I’ve been to have this, since the Japanese ones I go to are Izakaya. Now you have me worried as fuck! I don’t think I want to go close to any dish that requires the gas can stove… Though, there are restaurants that have the gas inside the table, which still has me worried for my lower body parts.
Thanks for posting this, everyone should know about the dangers. Faulty or not, having that stove, and gas can, so close to people while eating is a danger in itself.
Seen many of these types of stoves go up, many accidents but thankfully never anyone hurt to this extent.
i have 4, they all work fine.
Oh man. I am shocked… This is a terrible story. I hope everyone is fine, as well as possible…
I was having problem lighting up the portable gas cooker and surfing the internet to see any solution for it before I found your article. It was an unexpected incident and I hope Kaori and her family are on their way to recovery. I think I will throw the one I have away and will opt for electric heater that comes with my apartment instead.
Thanks for reading. I hope people are a little more careful after reading this article. At least something good can come out of it.
Kaori and her family are doing fine now. The scars are pretty much gone and we use electric units now like the link in the article. They work fine and no risk of explosion. However, be careful not to trip on the cord :)
Eat good!
I’m so incredibly sorry to hear about this, Billy. I’m glad your wife has you and her family taking care of her though. Same for her mom and sis. I can only imagine the emotional toll that comes with the pain. I’ll wish only the best for the fastest recovery possible to everyone, and that includes you.
I think you’re right to warn others about this danger. This is not something to take lightly. I have never given this any mind, and those photos make me realize I’d better pay attention.
Thanks @supreme!
I’m surprised this one didn’t go viral… it only got 3 Retweets!
Well, I’ll post a followup of some photos of Kaori. You probably wouldn’t be able to notice the scars.
I was terrified when I read your story since I have 3 of portable butane stove around house. So, I did some research on safety of the device and found indeed there are some reported cases. South Korea is far largest portable butane stove consumers in the world that consumed 2.2 Billion butane canisters in 2009 and had 28 cases of portable stove incident according to Korea Gas Safety Corp. (www.kgs.or.kr) Most of incident was tribute to using a larger pan, aluminum foil wrapped grill, grease dripping grill, gas leak from mis-alignment of notch. I am glad your wife is getting well. Gas explosion is terrible to think of even 28 cases out of 2.2 billion cans.
I was searching online for news on portable gas stoves, and came across here. Just had a huge scare today too!!!
We were getting ready for the Chinese New Year reunion dinner today, and mummy and I were at the dining table starting up the fire for the soup to boil. I was about to tell mum to be careful about lighting up with her face so near the stove..
The fire lit up, and after 2 seconds the whole stove went up in huge flames..
I ran to the kitchen to get water and mummy, daddy and sis were busy throwing vegetables on it..
we were about to evacuate the house as there’ll definitely be an explosion with all that burning of the gas cylinder inside… when we realised mummy had flung the gas cylinder out with her bare hands the first moment once she realised the stove was on fire..
Had she not done it, we would have been badly burnt as it was an almost full tank of gas..
We were lucky, and this woke us up to the dangers…
Everyone please be careful with gas stoves, both portable and home stoves..
With Billy’s case, it’s probably the cylinder’s problem?
My family’s case was the stove which had fire continuing even though we had switched it off right after, and it was made in japan.. not korea.
So no matter where the stove is made in, please please please be careful, or try not to use it..
I hope Kaori sees a speedy recovery, thank you so much guys for letting us know about this too.
And I’m also grateful to mummy, her mind must have been filled with not letting the explosion occur as my sister and dad who were still unaware in the first few seconds… instead of escaping from the area.. Her hands were in the fire, and I was like :o
Anyway, all these possible huge dangers can happen at outdoor bbqs which use gas pipes.. check if the gas pipe has holes in it by using soapy water (according to an advertisement I watched in Australia)
I hope she feels better. I know first hand how painful burns can be, and how long it takes to recover.
I hope you enjoy many happy family celebrations with Japanese food in the future.
Hello,
I’m Afshin Keshavarz from Iran . I have designed a system which is able to reduce the consumption of gas in stoves.
I would like to introduce my invention to your company and negotiate with you if possible. would you pleaze inform me whether you are willing to cooperate with me or not?
Thanx The following is my email address: k250designer@yahoo.com
I was cooking with an Evergreen Campstove single burner with a Coleman butane tank, at Lake Powell 8 am July 1st, 2010, when the campstove exploded. I was airlifted to a burn hospital in Phoenix. I was not lighting the stove, turning it up or turning it off. I was flipping a pancake. I sustained 2nd and 3rd degree burns to my right arm, hand, face, and inside my nose. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital and the rest of July in bed. I’ve had mysterious pain in my back since I was taken off the IV meds at the hospital. CT scan on July 9th revealed nothing. CT scan on Oct 12th revealed mass on the outside of my right lung. Could be infection. Could be cancer. I find out in a week.
Its been a while… but are you okay??
Hi, hope everyone recovers fully after that. I have just been given a double burner as a gift – instructions say use outdoors only. I have recently removed all gas from my caravan for purposes of safety. We have a fire training company and understand the risks involved of gas build-up where there is no ventilation. Please take care everone !!, John, South Africa.
My father’s colleague in China was seriously burned on his face and body as a college student in a similar explosion, cooking in his room. After I saw his facial scars, I have to say, I think about it almost every time I turn on my gas stove. I’m also switching to electric now, even though it might be not as fast to heat up.
any time you are using gas stoves ,grills for one they should never be used indoors,number two you should never have them sitting at the table everyone is sitting at …you have to be smarter then the grill you are using they should be on a table away from everyone in case of an unexpected accident…any time you are using any type of gas equiptment or electric for that matter there should be a proper fire extinguisher near by…accident do happen …we as people need to do everything in our power to prevent them…
Both Gas stoves and gas cylinders are dangerous. One at my house my mom was about to cook and lighted the stove. When she saw the gas cylinder was switched off , she was shocked. She informed this incident to me and my father. We went to the kitchen and we also saw what mom saw. We were also shocked. So we called to the gas agency immediately. He arrived and solved the problem. This incident can also be caused in your house too. So be careful.
Thanks for writing this up. It must have been difficult to post.
One hour ago I was cooking water on this stove when I heard “poef”. When I went to look there was fire on the gass can. Lucky for me I was able to blow the flames out. Never using this again. My kids could have been in the kitchen while I was in another room and that would have been a nightmare.
Hi cyber citizens,
I normally don’t leave comments but this is a very important topic that I just had to throw in my 2 pennies…
A few years ago I was in my mother’s kitchen; she and I was just sitting and talking at the table when all of a sudden I saw a little flame igniting INSIDE of the gas range stove. I panicked even more when I saw the flame climb outside one of the front burner’s socket… It was late at night, nothing was on, in, or being cooked in the oven and it certainly didn’t smell like there were any gas leak. Being two frightened women, we screamed first then ran to find some wet towel to throw over it. The flame went out and to confirm our suspicions, the knobs were NOT turned on at all. Eerie and definitely strange. The stove was disposed of the next day.
Web author, your story and mine should be a warning to everyone out there. My mom and I were lucky that A.) we didn’t get hurt (imagine a full range gas stove exploding) and b.) that we were sitting RIGHT THERE to catch it before it did damage to the neighbors.
By the way, my apartment that I’m renting now does not have a stove- so I went and bought myself an electric burner. My only complaint is that it takes FOREVER to heat/cook food, but at least it won’t explode and cause catastrophe.
hi, so sorry to hear the accident happen and we will totally throw away ours for sure!! thanks for sharing the info!!!!
btw, i love japanese culture and enjoy reading your blog.
best,
wing
Very Sorry to hear about this accident hope all the three are doing well now. And thank God the kids were away from it. Thanks for sharing the information as it will really help others to be cautious when around these portable gas stoves. Actually i was planning to buy one of these but after reading this i will prefer a electric stove over it.
Thanks for the information again as it may save many other life.
May God Bless You All & help you to recover from the troma.
Regards,
Let me share my experience. Gas canister or gas cylinder will explode only when they get heated up. For gas canister stove, the canister is too close to the fire, and if the pot/pan is placed extending to the canister, and keep on burning over a long time, this would cause the canister to be heated up and explode.
A plastic gas lighter used for lighting cigarette does not explode, because the fire is on top and not burning at the plastic gas container. There was an incident where a welder who was doing arc welding had a plastic gas lighter in one of his trousers pocket. One of the sparks from the arc welding landed on the plastic gas lighter and it exploded.
Gas cylinder must be kept in a well ventilated area. If there is any smell of gas leak, never ignite the stove or have naked flame. Ventilate the area, use liquid soap to check for the leak.
With gas cylinder, the gas leak normally occurs at the cap because of changing cylinders.
I’ve three of these type of stoves for over four years now with no accidents at all.I’ve even loaned them out to friends and family who then went on to buy one for thereselves.Jim.(Night Owl).
Hi there, sorry to hear about your accident. Can I ask what treatment did they get for the burn scars after the initial emergency care? My partner has almost identical injuries (and resulting scars) and I want to know if laser treatment may help for Asian skin. Email me: pjwbooth(at)hotmail.com
thank you for keeping me up to date Billy, Happy to hear all are healing, but may take longer for mental scars to heal…keep at it you are picking up more and more interest all we. Your wife must have suffered terribly as well as the rest. Your wife is brave lady. I see some people did not believe it.All they had to do was read the article and look at the photos….sending lots of love and big hugs. Alice
It scares me to death. I was planning to buy one too yesterday but my brother told me to think it over first coz’ it might be very dangerous to use. I vow not to buy portable stove.
I hope Kaori is recovering well.
this day Feb. 24, i cooked our breakfast then when my eldest son noticed and asking me that mom, why is the fire become bigger? and i said to him its ok, but seconds after i noticed also that the gas cylinder is burning and the fire is become bigger, so i removed my youngest son away from the kitchen and i’m so shocked and i don’t know what to do, i’m nervous and thanks be to God that no one is in danger…and now i will never used this portable gas stove from korea its very harmful.
@Billy The reason for the accident was due to a faulty stove. Do you remember what kind of can was being used? Was it a CRV safety can?
@Billy+Kaori
I have been reading over this blog meticulously. But it still did not persuade me enough to stop my plans on buying a butane stove. But then I stumbled on the other blogspot with all the pictures of the mishap. I will no longer be purchasing a portable butane indoor/outdoorstove.
An alternative is a wicking (non-pressurized) alcohol stove. Not as fast to cook as butane or propane, but much safer in my opinion.
A good but expensive brand is Origo, made of stainless steel. They make one and two burner standalone stoves and models to fit in the galley counter of a boat or RV. Fuel is inexpensive; fluid methyl alcohol, sold in hardware stores.
A cheaper type is called the Sterno, which is a disposable can full of jellified alcohol.
Thanks for sharing this with strangers. You have done a favor to all the people who read this and decided not to buy this horrible device. Who knows how many people you saved.
Ours exploded last night. These things are potentially deadly. I too have been using them for years with no problem until now.
Lucky my wife moved it from in front of the kids about 10 mins before it exploded
A famous actress was just injured because of the same type of explosion using the same type of equipment.
My Portable gas stove recently caught on fire. Luckily it did not explode. The whole unit was engulf in flame and I’ve tried desperately to get the gas can out of the unit before it did. I guess I was lucky.