If you have an older Mazda that still runs like a champ, listen up: the car company is recalling nearly 1.2 million vehicles made in the 1990s because of defective ignition switches. [More]
fires
Toyota Recalling 6.5M Cars Worldwide Because Windows Should Not Start Fires
By 10.21.15
Ah, fall: the time of year when you need neither the air conditioning nor the heat on in your car, but just need to roll the window down a few inches to feel that lovely autumn breeze. Unless you are one of the 6.5 million people in the world who own certain model Toyota and Scion cars, in which case rolling down that window might just smell like your driver’s side door catching fire. [More]
GM Recalls 121K Cadillac Sedans Because Defogging Shouldn’t Start A Fire
By 9.10.15
When activating the defogger control in your vehicle you expect it to defog your windows, not start a fire. Alas, that’s apparently the case for nearly 121,000 Cadillac sedans that are part of General Motor’s latest recall. [More]
GM’s Colorado, Canyon Trucks Reportedly At Risk For Same Fire Issues As Recalled Hummers
By 7.15.15
Following reports yesterday that General Motors knew that hundreds of thousands of Hummer vehicles were prone to fires because of potential electrical shorts before recalling the vehicles under the threat of an investigation by regulators, it now appears that two other models produced by the car maker may have the same issues, yet they remain on the road. [More]
Report: GM Threatened With Regulatory Investigation Before Issuing Recall For Fire-Prone Hummers
By 7.14.15
Last week, General Motors announced that it would recall nearly 196,000 Hummer vehicles because simply turning on the heating or cooling system could set the car ablaze. While we reported that federal regulators had received nearly two dozen consumer complaints about the issue over the past seven years, a new report finds that the real number of reported incidents is much higher, and that GM may have continued to put off issuing the recall had it not been for threats of an investigation. [More]
General Motors Recalls Nearly 200,000 Hummers Because They Shouldn’t Just Catch On Fire
By 7.9.15
When operating your vehicle’s heating and cooling system, one probably doesn’t fathom a scenario in which simply turning on that function could set the car ablaze. But that’s exactly what several owners of Hummer SUVs say happened to them. [More]
Comcast Refused To Cancel Cable For Customer Whose House Went Up In Flames
By 4.9.15
When your house burns down, the last thing you should be concerned about is having to make repeated calls to your cable provider to get them to cancel or suspend your service. And yet Comcast refused to cancel service for one Minnesota customer after his house was turned to ashes — all because he couldn’t provide his full account number. [More]
Jury Orders Chrysler To Pay $150M After Jeep Fire Kills Four-Year-Old
By 4.3.15
Two years after Chrysler reluctantly recalled millions of Jeeps that could catch fire after being rear-ended the company has been ordered to pay $150 million to the family of a four-year-old boy who was killed in one of hundreds of related accidents. [More]
Family Says Devastating House Fire Was Sparked By Refracted Rays From Nutella Jar
By 2.25.15
Sure, glass jars are pretty. But one family in London is warning others against using empty jars as decoration after rays from the sun refracted off a Nutella container in a windowsill, starting a blaze that engulfed the home and killed their beloved pet. [More]
Mercedes-Benz Recalls Nearly 150,000 Sedans Because Fires Aren’t Part Of The Driving Experience
By 2.23.15
There are a number of places you might expect to see a fire: camping, in the fireplace on a cold night. But one place you don’t want to experience a blaze is in your car’s engine. For that reason Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly 150,000 sedans and station wagons. [More]
Kia Recalls 87,000 Sedans For Potential Fire Hazard
By 1.26.15
The purpose of a cooling fan in your vehicle is to cool the car’s components under the hood. For nearly 87,000 Kia sedans, that apparently isn’t the case, as a piece of the fan has been found to overheat, melt and start a fire. So should come as no surprise that Kia would then recall those vehicles – which it did over the weekend. [More]
California Teen Allegedly Sets Christmas-Themed Stuffed Animals On Fire At Walmart
By 11.5.14
In the past we’ve reported on some very disturbing behavior when it comes to consumers, stuffed animals, and Walmart (remember the humping incident?). The weirdness continued early this morning at a California store when a teen allegedly started a fire with the toys. [More]
Equipment Catches Fire At Amazon Warehouse, Your Stuff Is Fine
By 11.3.14
In the early hours of Saturday morning, there was a fire at the Amazon.com fulfillment center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Warehouse workers and the local fire department were able to contain the fire, no one was injured, and none of your stuff that you haven’t ordered yet was damaged. [More]
Power Company Burns Down Couple’s House During Cancer Treatment
By 5.19.14
M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas offers world-class cancer treatment, and a man who lives near Dallas traveled there to continue treatment after fighting cancer for three years. He had just learned that chemotherapy was no longer working when a call came from their neighbors back in northern Texas: their home was on fire. [More]
Mercedes Recalls 250,000 Vehicles Because Taillight Issue Could Lead To Small Trunk Fires
By 4.30.14
It’s never a fun experience when something in your vehicle fails. It’s even worse when that failure could lead to a trunk fire. And that’s precisely the reason Mercedes-Benz is recalling more than 250,000 vehicles. [More]
Do Not Set Bird Seed On Fire To Distract Walmart Staff From Shoplifters
By 4.4.14
Shoplifting is a crime, a scourge in the retail business, and very, very bad. Do you know what’s worse than than shoplifting, though? Setting the store on fire to distract store security while your companion shoplifts. Now a Minneapolis woman has been charged with two counts of arson, and the Walmart store where this happened sustained six-figure damage. [More]
Man Runs Into Burning Home To Rescue Xbox
By 1.28.14
There’s a story I used to tell my college roommate’s little sisters that would make them squeal with joy every single time: There was once a fire in my house (not the laughter part) and upon seeing the flames, my dad ripped the Nintendo console out of the wall in my brothers’ bedroom, dashed downstairs and got everyone — and the Nintendo — safely out of the house. That’s how we explained having the console later but not the necessary cords to connect it. [More]
This Is Why Your Office Bans Space Heaters
By 1.8.14
It doesn’t have to be cold outside for your office to be a little drafty. Buildings ban space heaters for a reason, though. Just ask the Pennsylvania factory worker whose clothes caught fire due to to the small heater he was keeping in his workspace. [The Intelligencer] [More]
