Delonghi Oil Filled Heater Recall / Replacement Program for Fire Hazard
Video Proof of DeLonghi’s Heater Causing Fatal Fires in San Francisco
On Christmas Day 2013, while most homes in San Francisco was filled with families toasting the holidays and ecstatic children opening presents, one home was filled with smoke, fire, and a wrongful death because of a defective space heater.
An oil-filled space heater from DeLonghi Products became the focus on a wrongful death lawsuit after a fatal house fire near Golden Gate Park.
This lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims that an oil-filled portable radiator heater manufactured in the 1980s by DeLonghi caused a fire that tragically killed a beloved shopkeeper, Randy Sapp.
Noted As A Potential Hazard 26 Years Ago
Even though, back in 1990, the federal safety investigators warned that this particular model of space heaters posed a potential fire hazard, the DeLonghi company has been negligent in recalling more than 3 million of them that may still be in use on the market today.
On this fateful day late in 2013, Patrick Ferry was in his kitchen when he heard a loud crash and sounds of glass breaking. He ran upstairs to try to find his partner of 29 years, Randy Sapp, but the smoke was too thick, there was intense heat, and huge flames in the bedroom prevented him from going in there.
Randy then staggered out of the bedroom, covered in flames from his head to his toe. After trying to put out the flames first with his hands, then by rolling Randy in a carpet, Mr. Ferry carried Mr. Sapp to the front porch. They were both rushed to the hospital, but Sapp did not survive because of the burns he had suffered.
A Federal Wrongful Death Lawsuit for “A Danger to Users”
Mr. Ferry later filed a lawsuit, citing a 1991 notice from the U.S. Consumer Safety Protection Commission that warned owners about how DeLonghi space heaters manufactured in the 1980s posed a potential fire hazard, causing the fire in his home that took his partner’s life. The lawsuit claimed, “a defect in the DeLonghi heater caused it to catch fire”. Furthermore, the appliance company “should have known” the heater “created a danger to others”.
After the lawsuit, DeLonghi stated that it would voluntarily replace the faulty and defective control panels, but couched that by saying, “The manufacturer does not believe any safety hazard exists.”
Built in Italy
Mr. Ferry’s attorney, San Francisco’s Walter Haynes of the Albert G. Stoll, Jr. Law Firm, maintains that the heaters were built in Italy in the 1980s and not designed for U.S. power sources. Haynes also claims the fire was caused by a design defect because “the heaters overheat over time”.
However, this was not the only lawsuit. A Consumer Products Safety Commission warning was prompted, in part, by 18 lawsuits filed prior to the 1991 notice –– and all alleged that the heaters caused fires, some fatal.
Tell Your Friends About These Heaters
This case is just one of 85 nationwide, but the fact is, there may still be as many as three million fatal heaters manufactured by DeLonghi are in use today which could potentially catch fire.
Mr. Haynes adds, “This case is not just about the loss of Randy Sapp or Patrick’s loss, or his injuries. This case is a lot about people that we’ve never met. People out there that can still lose their lives, lose their homes as a result of these heaters.”
The model numbers include: 3107, 3107T, 4308, 4707, 5108, 5108T, 5307, 9306, 9308, and 9608.
So please let anyone you know who may have one of these heaters with the same make and model that they potentially “could cause fires” because of electrical failures.
Ask them to cut the power cord, mail it back to DeLonghi America, and the company will send them a new heater.