LG Is Recalling Several Models Of Ranges For A Serious Fire Risk

Appliance manufacturer LG has issued a recall of roughly 500,000 ranges due to a defect that means the front-mounted burner knobs can be accidentally turned on by people and pets. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received at least 86 reports of accidental activation involving the recalled ranges. The faulty ranges have been sold for about 10 years nationwide in appliance departments at Home Depot, Lowe's, Costco, Best Buy, and on LG's website.

Between a Frito-Lay chip recall due to undeclared milk and the McDonald's E. coli fiasco that resulted in customer drop-off, the past year has been a doozy for recalls. The increase in food recalls could actually be a good thing, assuming organizations are getting better at detecting potentially harmful products, but this current recall shows that food is far from the only thing that can cause harm to consumers. The 28 fires that have started because of the defective ranges have caused over $340,000 of property damage. Sadly, the fires have also caused eight minor injuries, while three of the fires have resulted in the deaths of family pets.

Given that the recalled ranges have been sold for roughly 10 years, some folks might have one of the problematic appliances and not realize it. The CPSC has compiled a list of model and serial numbers associated with the recall, which can be found on its website. The watchdog organization is also urging anyone with one of the recalled units to keep pets and children away from the knobs and double-check that they are off before leaving home or going to sleep.

Folks with the defective appliances are encouraged to contact LG for a free warning label to place on the range. It reminds people to enable the Lock Out/Control Lock function on the appliance to disable the heating elements from being activated when the range is not in use. Customers can contact LG for the warning label — as well as instructions on where to place it and how to use the Lock Out/Control Lock feature – by calling 800-399-3265 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. People can also email LG at lgrange.recall@lge.com or they can visit LG's dedicated electric range recall page to acquire one of the free warning labels.