Certain fire extinguishing balls may fail to work, could lead to injury or death: regulators

Federal safety regulators are warning consumers to avoid certain fire extinguisher balls because they could fail and in turn pose a serious risk of injury or death.

Federal safety regulators are warning consumers about fire extinguishing balls still on the market that could fail to extinguish fires. 

In a Thursday warning notice, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said the Elide brand fire extinguishing balls can "fail to effectively disperse fire retardant chemicals" and thus "fail to extinguish a fire, which could lead to serious injury and death."

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The products also don't have a pressure gauge or pressure indicator, a locking device to reduce the risk of unintentional discharge, a self-closing valve for intermittent discharge or a nozzle to direct the discharge, the CPSC said. 

As a result, they don't meet the requirements of UL 299 Dry Chemical Fire Extinguishers and UL 711 Rating and Fire Testing of Fire Extinguishers, both of which are voluntary safety standards, according to the agency. 

The CPSC said Elide hasn't agreed to recall the fire extinguishing balls it sells to consumers on the company's website. It hasn't offered a remedy either. 

Elide Fire USA told FOX Business in a statement that it strongly disagrees with the CPSC release and that its product is not meant to replace a fire extinguisher but to add as another any fire situation.

"The very nature of our company is Innovation in Fire Safety because there is never enough Fire Protection, which the Fire Ball was created for, to bring an additional line of Fire protection to any potential fire situation," the company told FOX Business. "We have never marketed or sold it as a replacement for any existing fire product or system again but rather as an addition." 

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Elide also argued that since it's not a fire extinguisher, to "test it against a Fire Extinguisher Standard is not fair measure because the product was not created for that use case, and ultimately will fail." 

The agency's warning covers all three models that are listed on the company's website. 

The ELB01 and ELB02-1 fire extinguishers models are made out of red plastic and weigh about 1.5 or three pounds. Meanwhile, the ELB02-2 model is made of blue plastic and weighs about 1.5 pounds. 

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All of the products have a label wrapped around the front of the product with the Elide Fire logo. 

"The Fire Ball was created to fill the grey area between fixed systems and Portable Fire Extinguishers the Ball is a proximity-based product that activates only when it comes in contact with flame," the company said. "Placed in areas of concern it brings automatic fire protection to any potential flashpoint. Bringing an added layer of fire protection, in addition to Fire Extinguishers & Fixed systems." 

Elide is currently working with a lab to test the ball under the use case scenarios it was created for, which is fixed or mounted in an area of concern where a fire could start.