Sebastian Reynoso was getting ready to make s’mores with his uncle and cousins on Oct. 4 when the tabletop fire pit the family was using inside a Morgan Hill home exploded into flame.

The flames rushed from between the two glass walls of the fire pit and hit the 3-year-old boy on his face, neck and arms, leaving second- and third-degree burns over about 15 percent of his body.

Sebastian has now spent more than a month in a hospital, receiving skin grafts for his burns and surgeries to treat a swollen and narrowed airway, his father, Omar Reynoso, said in an interview this week. Sebastian has a long road to recovery ahead of him, including more surgeries, rehabilitation and laser treatments to help mitigate the burn scars.

“His future is kind of unknown,” Reynoso said. “I don’t wish this on anybody, even my worst enemy. … It’s very hard, especially for a 3-year-old.”

Sebastian Reynoso, a three-year-old boy from Morgan Hill, is recovering from second- and third-degree burns he sustained when a tabletop fire pit exploded, said his father Omar Reynoso. He has undergone six surgeries to treat the burns and a narrowed windpipe over the last month. (Omar Reynoso) 

The device was a tabletop fireplace from the brand Rozato, Reynoso said. The fire pit retails for $14.99 online and is fueled by either rubbing alcohol or bioethanol, according to the company’s website.

Rozato did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission issued an alert in December 2024 warning against using fire pits that burn alcohol or liquid fuels due to the devices violating a voluntary safety standard. The devices, the warning said, pose the danger of pool fires and flame jetting, and have been associated with at least 60 injuries and two deaths since 2019.

“Consumers should immediately stop using and dispose of these products,” the warning read. “Sellers should stop selling these products.”

Reynoso, a pilot who lives in Morgan Hill, said the family was not aware of any safety recall at the time of the incident. Reynoso had just landed in Phoenix, Ariz. when he received the call from his wife telling him that Sebastian was in the emergency room.

“That was one of the hardest days of my life,” Reynoso said, “being somewhere else, not knowing what’s going on.”

Sebastian was taken to St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy before he was transferred to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Reynoso said. Reynoso was able to catch a flight back early the next morning to meet his wife and son at the hospital.

Sebastian was intubated because the swelling from the burns obstructed his airway, reducing his ability to breathe normally, Reynoso added. He remained intubated for about three weeks, before doctors decided to give him a tracheostomy because the tube in his throat was making the swelling worse.

Over the past month, Sebastian has undergone several surgeries for his burns and airway, with another scheduled for next week, his father said. He has endured drug withdrawals, skin grafting and intubation.

“He’s a very strong kid,” Reynoso added. “The healing process of his burns, they said it’s going to take a year until we kind of fully see what it’s actually going to look like, because right now his skin is just all pink and red.”

The treatment has posed a challenge for the normally active 3-year-old, who loves swimming, sports and riding his bike, Reynoso said. He has been “very confused” as to what happened.

“When he first started getting off of meds, he was very upset, very agitated,” he said. “He has really hard mood swings – like it’s really hard for us as parents because one minute he’s really happy and we try to play as much as we can with him, and then the next minute, it’s like 180 degrees, like he doesn’t want anybody.”

“He looks at his hands, and he seems really, really sad,” he added. “We covered his hands because he doesn’t want to look at (them). But every time that somebody comes in, he starts pulling at his hands to show them.”

Though Sebastian has not been able to leave the hospital – and will not for at least another month – his parents have been able to take him outside on the hospital’s patio on a handful of occasions.

“But he does not want to do it. It’s like we have to force him,” Reynoso said. “He was a very active kid, and now he just doesn’t want to do any of this.”

They play with him whenever he feels up to it – building Legos, coloring, reading books, Reynoso added.

His parents are not sure to what extent Sebastian understands what happened, but they believe he knows it had something to do with fire, Reynoso said.

For the past month, his parents have not left Sebastian’s side at the hospital, Reynoso said. His mother sleeps at the bottom of his hospital bed and his father sleeps on a couch. The couple’s family and friends alternate bringing meals.

“Everybody has been really helpful with taking care of us,” Reynoso said.

The family has a GoFundMe set up by Sebastian’s aunt that has so far raised more than $47,000 out of a goal of $200,000, which will go toward making up the gaps in insurance coverage for Sebastian’s treatment. The community’s response to the fundraiser has been “unbelievable,” Reynoso said.

“I never thought the community would step in and reach out and help out,” he said. “My wife and I – we are so thankful, like we were shocked.”

The family has not yet considered filing a legal claim against the manufacturer of the fire pit, Reynoso said.

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The medical costs are shaping up to be significant. The family received the bill for the ambulance ride, which added up to $14,000 – only $3,000 of which will be covered by insurance because it was an out-of-network provider, Reynoso said. His son also does not qualify for care under the critical illness insurance Reynoso gets through his employer because he does not meet the threshold of burns over 20% of his body.

Sebastian will also need laser treatment, especially on his right cheek, to help the appearance of the burns, Reynoso said. But those laser treatments are considered cosmetic and will not be covered by insurance.

“My wife and I always say, we don’t care what the cost is, we’re still going to do it. We’ll go in debt for our lives,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter to us – it’s for our kid, and whatever needs to be done, we’re going to do it for him.”