Safety Update December 2017

Fire Extinguisher RecallButch Jones

The Kiddie Company has issued a recall on most of their plastic handle fire extinguishers. There are more than 40 million, yes million fire extinguishers included in this recall.  These are used in automobiles, trucks, RVs and boats. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) “The fire extinguishers can become clogged or require excessive force to discharge and can fail to activate during a fire emergency. In addition, the nozzle can detach with enough force to pose an impact hazard.” So this is an important safety issue for all RVers. 

There has been one reported death, which occurred in 2014. This happened when an extinguisher failed during a car fire. There have been 16 reported injuries, 91 reports of property damage and 391 reports of the extinguishers failing to operate properly or not at all. 

This recall includes 134 models manufactured as far back as 1973 and as recently as August 2017. All the units have a plastic handle or plastic push button. Units with a metal handle or valve assembly are not included in the recall. The plastic handles and buttons can break or detach when force is applied

This is not the first recall in recent times. This is the third time Kidde has issued a recall for this type of fire extinguisher, and it’s by far the largest. The earlier recalls were made in March 2009 and February 2015.

Kidde is offering free replacements to anyone who owns one or more of the recalled units. “Consumers with a recalled fire extinguisher should contact Kidde right away,” Wallace says.

To claim a replacement, check the brand name and model number of your fire extinguisher against the CPSC recall notice. The model numbers are printed on the body of the fire extinguisher (see photos above and below). You can call Kidde at 855-271-0773 or visit the Kidde website, where you can fill out a form to get a new unit. 

If you go to the Kiddie website scroll down and you will see three boxes, one with a smoke detector, one with a fire extinguisher and the other with a keypad of sorts. Click on the box with the fire extinguisher. This will get you into the recall screen. Then follow the prompts the first you will click on United States then follow the directions from the next screen.

Here is the consumer contact for Kidde. The toll-free number is 855-271-0773 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday. If you want more information you can also go to the CPSC website, just type “fire extinguisher recall” and the CPSC website will be visible.

I have two of the affected extinguishers and it has been several weeks since I sent my information to Kiddie. I still have not heard from them, but remember there are 40 million extinguishers out there so I guess they may be a bit busy.

I will keep you updated if more information becomes available.