Ajax Fire and Emergency Services has issued a warning to residents after unapproved vent-free fireplaces were offered for sale at local Liquidation World stores.

The fireplaces are typically fuelled by natural gas and they operate without a chimney, flue or vent. They're not approved for sale in Canada, but are legal in some American states.

In order to be safely operated, vent-free fireplaces need a well-ventilated area to ensure complete combustion of the fuel so that no carbon monoxide is produced. But due to the tightly constructed homes typically found in Canada, the appliances could pose a significant carbon monoxide risk, the Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshal said. The Technical Standards and Safety Authority issued a provincial offence order to Liquidation World's head office to discontinue the sale of the fireplaces.

The issue was brought to the fire marshal's attention in December.

"We pulled all of these products from our stores, we're not selling it," said Lynda Murray, senior vice-president of marketing for Liquidation World, adding the company initiated a recall procedure.

Ms. Murray said she wasn't sure how many of the fireplaces were sold to consumers.

"We would have purchased this out of the U.S. obviously, and didn't realize it didn't meet some of the standards in Ontario," she said, adding there is now a process in place to prevent this from happening again.

After the fire marshal issued the bulletin in December, Ajax Fire and Emergency Services visited the Ajax Liquidation World where the fireplaces were on the floor, for sale. However, none had been sold yet, said Kevin Vaughan, fire prevention inspector.

"They were very receptive to our concern with them and they indicated they pulled them off the market," said Mr. Vaughan.

The fireplaces were stripped and will be sold as mantles instead.

However, since the fireplaces were distributed by the store's head office, Ajax Fire and Emergency Services issued a warning to consumers on March 4.

"They could have picked them up when they were out visiting someone," said Mr. Vaughan.

As to why it took so long to issue the release, Mr. Vaughan said there was a delay in the fire marshal putting that information out for the public until March.

"It's one of these ones that kind of fell between the cracks and just got picked up again," he said.

The fireplaces for sale at Liquidation World Stores were manufactured by ProCom and consumers who purchased them should contact their local Liquidation World in order to be reimbursed.