(Photo credit: Michelle Tribe/Creative Commons)
One appliance that every household heavily relies on is the refrigerator, it keeps our food from spoiling and even lets us enjoy cold treats at home, such as ice cream or cheesecake, which we otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
Whenever we open our fridge, we expect to feel cold air coming from the appliance. Unfortunately, one Regina family woke up to find their fridge warm and all the food stored inside was hot, according to CBC News. Also, the fridge’s plastic at the top of the appliance had melted.
“I couldn’t get the eggs out of the top compartment and everything else that was on the top of the fridge was warm. The yogurt was hot,” the family told CBC News’ Go Public.
“The cover for the light bulbs themselves — was melted completely. It was all bubbled. You could see singe marks on the light bulbs and the housing. … We’re concerned that [it] could have ignited — to get that hot, to do that sort of damage.”
Typically when we close the refrigerator door, the light bulb will automatically shut off. But this wasn’t the case for the LG fridge that was owned by the Hines’ family. The father was able to remove the bulbs from the fridge, but only by using a sock, which the bulbs were able to burn a hole through.
The family tested the temperature and discovered that the light bulb had heated the fridge to more than 350 F, which is as hot as an oven can get.
After the family called LG, the company told them that since the chances of the incident happening was very low, there was no recall issued, but a repairman they talked to had seen the problem for about a decade.
In 2010, Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal issued a warning about French-door LG fridges and Sears’ Kenmore refrigerator models, which were manufactured by LG between 2004 and 2007.
“The heat generated by the continuously lit bulb(s) can lead to the melting, charring and smoking of the plastic light fixture and interior lining located at the top of the refrigerator. In some cases, the heat generated by the bulb(s) can cause the fixture to separate and drop down,” says the warning.
While the company conducted tests on the issue, it wasn’t determined to be a fire safety hazard and no fires have been reported as a result of the product’s defect.
The family doesn’t understand why there wasn’t a recall issued. “Given the fact that they knew there was a defect, and they failed to do a safety recall, they put our family and a lot of other families at risk,” the wife told CBC.
Companies are expected to produce products that are safe for customers to use. If it’s discovered that this isn’t the case, a recall should be issued to inform them of the issue, along with steps to remedy the problem. Auto recalls are one example where car defects, such as the airbag or ignition switch, have led to the deaths that may not have occurred if the vehicle’s features worked as expected.
Product Liability Lawyers
The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been dealing with all product liability issues throughout Ontario for over 45 years. Call us at 416-920-4242, set up a free consultation, and come speak with us.
Greg Neinstein
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