N.H. Woman Warns About Tabletop Fire Pits After Her Parents Die: 'Hope I Can Spare Another Family'

A New Hampshire woman is mourning the loss of her parents who she said died following a tragic incident involving a tabletop fire pit last month.

In an interview with local TV station WMUR, Dee McEneaney, of Dover, said that her parents, Herman and Thelma Stolzenburg, who had been married for 71 years, were sitting on her porch on Father’s Day, June 16. 

Then McEneaney lit the tabletop fire pit and the flame seemingly leapt from its container, she later recalled, saying it "was a nanosecond, and the flame just came off of that thing."

"It's like a blowtorch and engulfed both my parents," McEneaney told the station.

The New Hampshire Fire Marshal's Office continues to investigate, according to WMUR. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE.

Herman and Thelma, both 93, were first taken to area hospitals before being transported to Massachusetts General, WMUR reported. Thelma died on June 22, followed by Herman three days later. 

McEneaney told WMUR that she is speaking out to make people aware that what happened to her parents could happen to others, too. 

"We weren't careless,” she said. “We were enjoying Father's Day, and my Father's Day is going to be forever changed now."

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Both Herman and Thelma were sweethearts who grew up in upstate New York, per a published obituary about the couple.  

“Thelma Pierce and Herman Stolzenburg were born within two months of each other, met in their 1st grade classroom, started dating in high school, and were married for seventy-one years before dying three days apart in the third week of June, 2024,” the obituary reads.

“Whether in defiance of improbable odds or preordained by the stars, theirs was an Olympic marathon of love and tears and laughs that now leaves their multitude of friends and family with bittersweet reflections of sorrow and awe,” the remembrance continues. 

Herman and Thelma married in 1953 and Herman later joined the U.S. Navy and served for the branch for years. After living in various parts of the country due to Herman’s military service, the family, which included daughter Dee and sons Will and Paul, settled in New Hampshire in 1968.

Later in their lives, Herman and Thelma were active in animal welfare concerns. 

“In passing, Mom and Dad left lasting voids in the lives of four generations, from dear old neighborhood friends to adoring great grandchildren. But so too did they leave bright beacons of inspiration, from two remarkable lives well lived,” their obituary states.

In a July 3 Facebook post, McEneaney shared what happened to her parents along with a photograph of the tabletop fire pit. 

“This device caused the deaths of both my parents on what was to be a joyful Father’s Day,” McEneaney wrote, going on to describe "sheer terror and devastation."

“The movie that is on replay in my head will not soon fade away," she continued.

"I hope I can spare another family."