(CLEVELAND) Millions are used without problems. But a fire destroyed a Hudson resident's
kitchen. According to fire investigators, the fire in Ann Mau's kitchen began in
the microwave.
Mau said, "I entered the house and looked down the hallway and saw black
billowing smoke coming out of my kitchen."
Hudson Fire Chief Bob Carter said, "We determined that the origin of the fire
was in the microwave in the area of the control panel. And it was apparently
caused by some kind of electrical or mechanical defect in the control panel of
the microwave."
The microwave was not even turned on.
"What is most puzzling to me is how this could happen?" Mau stated.
Mau came home to find flames shooting from her GE microwave.
Mau said, "The firefighter told us five more minutes (and) we would have lost
our whole first floor, not to mention it could have been our whole house."
That's not the only mysterious fire NewsChannel5 found. A second report by
fire investigators in Michigan blamed a malfunction in another GE microwave. And
a third fire at another home pointed to another GE microwave or the area near
it.
The homeowner, Ron Nicol, said "What caused this fire? Nothing was on."
Nicol and his wife were not even home when the fire broke out.
"(It was) wery suspicious to us," Nicol said. "We had just returned from a
vacation celebrating our one-year wedding anniversary, so we hadn't used the
microwave in forever."
The official fire report found the cause was undetermined.
Nicol's wife said, "It was just black all along around where the microwave
was. It was burnt and they had the whole microwave pulled out, and (the charred
box) was sitting over here in our family room."
GE said the cause is currently under investigation and also said "evidence
suggests it had nothing to do with the microwave itself." But in regards to the
fire in Mau's home, GE sent NewsChannel5 two different statements about what
happened.
The first GE letter said it had "determined
there was a fault in the electrical control panel of the microwave." And two
hours later, GE changed its story. They said, "We are not ruling out the
possibility of a malfunction ... but we are also looking at other information."
See GE's second letter.
GE also told NewsChannel5, "These types of random failures are rare and do
not indicate a systemic problem."
But for consumers whose homes have caught fire, there are lots of unanswered
questions.
Mau said, "It's scary. It's scary to think what could have been."
The complaints in this report involved GE over-the-range microwave ovens. GE
told NewsChannel5 that it has received 13 reported incidents of smoke damage or
scorching of adjacent cabinets last year. But the company also said it has an
admirable safety record with more than 12 million in use.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington has asked that if you
have a complaint to let its officials know. CPSC investigated similar complaints
five years ago and failed to find a defect.
See the
CPSC Letter.
Microwave
Investigation: Newly Filed Class Action Lawsuit
May
20, 2009
(CLEVELAND) NewsChannel5 warned you
about microwave ovens mysteriously catching fire. Now, a class action lawsuit
was just filed in federal court. The nationwide, class action lawsuit comes just
days after NewsChannel5 aired the story and now alleges that millions of
consumers could be affected.
The lawsuit alleges defects make GE
microwave ovens "unreasonably dangerous and unsuitable for their intended use."
Fire officials blamed a GE
microwave oven for a fire in Hudson. Investigators said it was a microwave that
wasn't turned on or cooking a thing. The Hudson homeowner said, "The firefighter
told us five more minutes (and) we would have lost our whole first floor. Not to
mention it could have been our whole house."
The lawsuit alleges that General
Electric "should have known these microwave ovens were defective since at least
2003."
Hasaan Zavareei, a Washington,
D.C., attorney, is representing plaintiffs' claims. Zavareei said, "Dangerous
defects that cause the microwaves to, without any user interface, just catch on
fire. (They) turn on ... potentially when they're there and sometimes when
they're not and remain on until they catch on fire."
The 5 On Your Side investigation is
being credited with bringing even more complaints forward.
"Ron Regan, the reporter in
Cleveland, has done a fantastic job of identifying instances where these fires
have occurred and bringing those stories to life. And since the story has run we
have received an amazing amount of feedback of other instances, similar
instances that are going to be helpful to us in this litigation," Zavareei said.
This lawsuit now claims victims in
20 states. Exact model numbers have not been released, but the lawsuit claims 20
different models are affected. GE declined NewsChannel5's request for a comment
until they can review the lawsuit. You can take a
look at the lawsuit here.
Meanwhile, if consumers have a problem to report, they should call the Consumer
Product Safety Commission at this number: 1-800-638-2772
May
14, 2009