A California woman was left brutally disfigured after flames ‘exploded’ in her face while making s’mores over an outdoor fire pit.
Viana Poggi, 18, was enjoying a fun summer night on July 6 with her cousin Alaina Arbiso when chaos unfolded before their eyes.
While using a cement tabletop firepit flames suddenly blew toward Poggi, leaving blistering burns on her face and arms.
‘We were making s’mores and what happened to me is called fire jetting. It’s when an alcohol-fueled pit basically explodes,’ the Laguna Niguel resident told KABC.
Some tabletop fire pits, like the one Poggi used, are fueled by rubbing alcohol, but when hers needed to be refilled with the substance nobody knew a small flame was still burning inside.
‘Because it was so quick I closed my eyes. I wasn’t aware I was on fire. I thought I had just been burned by the rubbing alcohol,’ the incoming college freshman told the outlet.
When the hot flames hit her, Poggi said it felt cold against her skin before realizing what was happening to her.
‘I was pushed into the pool and at that point we knew I was on fire. They had the ambulance come,’ Poggi recalled.
Viana Poggi, 18, was making s’mores with her cousin on a tabletop fire pit on July 6 when flames suddenly erupted
The flames suddenly blew toward Poggi, leaving blistering burns on her face and arms
Arbiso said all she could remember was just how fast everything happened in that terrifying moment before she pushed her cousin into the water.
‘Within like a millisecond, you don’t even see it coming, you have no time to react. It just happened,’ she said.
After pushing Poggi into the water, Arbiso then grabbed a hose and sprayed down the flames spreading on the table.
Another family member was also hit by the dangerous flames, but only Poggi was severely injured.
When she got to a local burn center, Poggi was immediately asked by staff what was used to fuel the fire pit.
‘Even when I got to the ER I just said I got hit by fire, and they asked me, “Was it rubbing alcohol?” Because it’s so common for people to be burned that way,’ she stated.
One of her good friends, Alexandra Welsh, who works as a trauma nurse at the local hospital, was left shocked after seeing someone she knew come in with such intense injuries.
‘I work at a trauma center, so I see a lot of traumatic injuries come in, but it is so different when it is someone who you think of as a little sister,’ Welsh told the outlet.
The fire pit Poggi used (picture) was fueled by rubbing alcohol , but when hers needed to be refilled with the substance nobody knew a small flame was still burning inside
She has been left with scars and burn marks on her face and arms from the incident
Despite the freak accident impacting her life, Poggi, who’s been left with scars and burn marks, has decided to make the best of it.
She’s been documenting her recovery on TikTok, showing herself dressed in a hospital gown, covered in bandages as she heals.
‘I always remember it could have been worse. I try to keep a good attitude,’ Poggi said.
She is due to start college next month at the University of San Francisco, but because of the burns she is also preparing for several procedures to help her recover.
A GoFundMe page has since been launched by Arbiso to help her cousin with medical expenses while she takes on this next chapter of her life.
‘With the big move coming, multiple reconstruction surgeries, and a long emotional/physical recovery in her foreseeable future, V is going to need all the help she can get,’ Arbiso wrote.
As of Friday afternoon, nearly $12,000 was raised to help Poggi.
She is due to start college next month at the University of San Francisco, but because of the burns, she is also preparing for several procedures to help her recover
She’s been documenting her recovery on TikTok, showing herself dressed in a hospital gown, covered in bandages as she heals
She also hopes that her unfortunate experience will make others think twice before using the specific fire pits.
‘I really want people to know the danger of using an alcohol-fueled pit cause’ they are so common. We owned I think three of them,’ Poggi warned.
Several brands of tabletop alcohol-fueled fire pits are sold online. Some are fueled by gel fuel, wood, wood pellets, and propane.
Just last year, multiple tabletop fire pits were recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The recall on Colsen-branded fire pits warned that ‘alcohol flames can be invisible and lead to flame jetting when refilling the fire pit reservoir.’
