Gas Fireplaces Could Cause Serious Injuries

Before you reach for the ignition switch of your gas fireplace to keep you warm this year, be careful, the glass front of the fireplace could cause serious burns.

Dr. Robert Cartotto of the Ross Tilley Burn Centre at Sunnybrook & Women's, is warning people that the glass barrier on some of the most common home gas fireplaces can heat up to more than 200ºC within about six and half minutes of the fireplace being ignited.

"Temperatures of the glass surfaces continued to rise after the six minute mark but we couldn't measure them for much higher than 200ºC. The highest reading we were able to take was 254ºC. The glass got so hot that it melted the metal tape we were using to keep the thermometer stuck to the surface,"says Dr. Cartotto. "It also takes these fireplaces time to cool off to a safe point. We found that even after being shut off for 30 minutes, temperatures on the glass surfaces were recorded at 50ºC, which is still hot enough to cause a sufficient burn."

Industry safety standards are currently not directed toward burn prevention. Instead they are more concerned with maintaining the physical integrity of the glass panel. The Canadian Gas Association recommends that warnings about glass temperature be placed in the operating manual and on the ignition switch but the fireplaces Dr. Cartotto studied did not have labels on the ignition switches. Manufacturers or suppliers of gas fireplaces have not explicitly recommended that mechanical guards be provided for each fireplace.

"Strict warnings should be placed on both the ignition switches and directly on the units. We would also like to see the industry recommend placing a barrier in front of the glass surface and that burn prevention information be distributed with the owner's manuals of these units," says Dr. Cartotto.

Previous research has shown that burns sustained from heated objects are most commonly seen in children under the age of two. These burns are generally the result of curious children reaching out to touch something or trying to stabilize themselves from falling. Most burns of this nature occur in the home and incidences tend to rise during the winter months due to increased indoor activities and the use of heaters such as gas fireplaces.

"Increased parental supervision is not enough," says Dr. Cartotto. "For example, we know from related research that almost half of the burns kids receive from electric irons are while they are being supervised, so we need the industry responsible for making these products to take a leadership role here and work toward preventing people from getting hurt."

Return to top of page