Kidde has issued a fire extinguisher recall following the death of a Pennsylvania man in 2014.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
issued an alert regarding the fire safety manufacturers fire extinguishers, which can clog and fail to deploy, according to the agency. About 38 million fire extinguishers are being recalled.
The devices’ flaw proved to be a lethal one three years ago as Brendan Rosko was in a car crash, which burst him and the car into flames on the side of King Road in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Two Kidde fire extinguishers brought in by first responders failed to put out the fire on Rosko’s body, leading to the 22-year-old’s deth.
The CPSC noted that both extinguishers failed to work at a crucial time. The agency added that the Kidde products with plastic handles can become clogged, requiring “excessive force to discharge” or even “fail to activate” during a fire emergency.
“Those fire extinguishers can have a problem and it may get clogged or it may just not deploy,” CPSC acting Chair Ann Marie Buerkle said in an interview with ABC News. “The purpose of the recall is to alert the consumers that there is a very easy fix.”
The agency noted that it had received 16 reports of injuries, which varied from smoke inhalation to minor burns, as well as 91 cases of property damages related to the Kidde fire extinguishers.
