Ohio Flame
Fire pits cut, welded and finished from American steel in northeast Ohio — started in a garage in 2009
🇺🇸 Made in USA
Our assessment
Company details
Where Ohio Flame products are made
The company’s stated position is a Tier 1 American Made manufacturer offering products that are one hundred per cent American made, adhere to the Buy American Act and are constructed from high quality USA steel. Naming the Buy American Act is a stricter standard than a marketing flag, because it is a legal definition somebody could hold them to.
Matt Skillman writes that he is not only President and CEO but the artist who cuts out all of the Artisan Fire Pits, and often the person who answers the phone. In a category of stamped imports, the cutting being done by a named person is the product.
Ohio Flame’s fire pits carry a lifetime warranty and are sold on natural steel and patina finishes. Steel thick enough to develop a patina rather than burn through is the whole engineering argument, and it is the failure the founder says started the company.
The 2009 founding date, the founder’s name, the northeast Ohio location and the description of the company as twenty miles south of Youngstown are all published by Ohio Flame on its own About and Rust Belt pages. The origin wording — one hundred per cent American made, Buy American Act, USA steel — is quoted from the company’s own site. The company does not publish a street address or a city name, and none has been inferred here.
The story
Ohio Flame began the way a lot of good small manufacturers do: with a product that failed. In 2008 Matt Skillman lost his job selling flat-rolled steel when the recession hit. Trying to take his mind off it one evening, he sat by a cheap imported fire pit that had rusted through after two seasons, and a few days later welded himself a better one out of scrap steel.
He was not a welder. His uncle Dave, a Vietnam veteran, was — and taught him, during treatment for the throat cancer that killed him in March 2011. Skillman named the fire pit The Patriot in his honour and made a commitment at the same time: keep it made in America.
The business grew out of eBay listings and local art shows into a side operation, and in 2012 Skillman took it full time. Ohio Flame now sells fire pits, artisan bowls, spark screens, inserts and tools, and its products have turned up on television, in films and at resorts.
Skillman still cuts the artisan pits himself and still answers the phone. His own summary of the philosophy is opportunity through adversity, and there are no wasted experiences — an artist who worked in steel and then sold it, who needed all three.
Why they matter
Fire pits are the archetypal disposable import: thin steel, two seasons, landfill. A company founded specifically because one of those failed, building in heavy American steel with a lifetime warranty, is the direct answer to that.
Ohio Flame also anchors its claim to the Buy American Act rather than to a flag graphic. That is a legally defined standard, and invoking it voluntarily is a stronger commitment than most consumer brands make.
And it is a Rust Belt story that actually went the right way — a laid-off steel salesman in northeast Ohio who started welding, kept the work at home, and named the first product after the uncle who taught him.
Shop Ohio Flame products
Browse Ohio Flame fire pits, fire bowls and accessories stocked on the Buy American Campaign store.
Frequently asked questions
Are Ohio Flame fire pits made in the USA?
Yes. The company describes itself as a Tier 1 American Made manufacturer, states that its products are one hundred per cent American made and adhere to the Buy American Act, and says they are constructed from high quality USA steel.
Where is Ohio Flame located?
In northeast Ohio. The company publishes its location as about twenty miles south of Youngstown, Ohio, and does not publish a street address.
When was Ohio Flame founded?
Spring 2009. Founder Matt Skillman started the business in his garage after being laid off from a steel company, and took it full time in 2012.
Do Ohio Flame fire pits come with a warranty?
Yes — the fire pits carry a lifetime warranty. The company’s position is that an Ohio Flame fire pit should be the last one a customer needs to buy.