Kerosene sold since May by a Coraopolis company could cause explosions or fires for consumers, and a widespread recall is necessary, a spokesman said today.

The danger, said company spokesman John Arnold, is real. A faulty valve at the supply center of the Pittsburgh Terminals Corp. intermittently allowed gasoline to mix with some of the kerosene product.

However, the contamination occurred so sporadically that the company has no way to determine how widespread may be the danger.

"In some ways you could consider this [recall] overkill," spokesman Bob Post said, referring to the recall region that covers all of Western Pennsylvania as far east as Ligonier and includes part of Eastern Ohio to Wooster, south to Buckhannon, W.Va., and north to southwestern New York.

Because the contamination cannot be detected by consumers, the company cast the recall net far and wide, Mr. Arnold said.

Fortunately, summer is an off-peak time for kerosene sales, although the spokesmen could not say how much of the fuel it sells.

Primary customers are in industry. Some residential sales are completed in Amish communities for lighting and cooking during the summer.

This, said Mr. Arnold, could be a problem because these customers are difficult to reach. They likely do not read newspapers, surf the Internet or watch television news broadcasts.

In late June, a Mercer County Amish woman died when a heater exploded at her home. Authorities said Ada Kurtz was using gasoline in a heater but she had poured it from a container labeled kerosene.

So far, the company has found only one outlet, in Erie, where it found a tank of kerosene contaminated with gasoline. In his business it's called a batch of "hot kerosene," Mr. Post said.

Anyone who bought kerosene distributed by Pittsburgh Terminals between May 1 and Aug. 19 should not use it. It should be returned to the retail outlet where it was purchased.

The company is offering full refunds for all purchases of its product between May and August.

The company said it will set up recall centers soon to make the returns easier.