Kidde Recalls 40 Million Fire Extinguishers with Plastic Handles Due to Failure to Discharge and Nozzle Detachment: One Death Reported

You know the importance of having a fire extinguisher for your home, vehicle and boat. Fire extinguishers save lives and property. Seldom are they used and when needed it is a life or death situation.

In a voluntary agreement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Kidde has agreed to recall more than 40 million fire extinguishers. Most of the recalled fire extinguishers are used in homes, vehicles and boats. Many of the fire extinguishers being recalled were provided by manufactures of trucks, RV’s and boats as original equipment.

The reason for the recall is the failure of the extinguishers to work properly or in some cases to work at all. There have been 391 reports of the extinguishers failing to function resulting in one death, 16 injuries, and 91 reports of property damage.

The recall includes 134 different models manufactured by Kidde and sold under numerous brand names with manufacture dates beginning in 1973 until August of 2017. The recall includes EVERY Kidde portable fire extinguisher with a plastic actuating handle or plastic actuating button.

This recall is the third and largest of Kidde recalls on these extinguishers. Earlier more limited recalls were made in March 2009 and February 2015.

“This recall raises very serious questions about how millions of defective products ended up in the marketplace and why it took the company years or even decades to find out about the problem or take it seriously,” says William Wallace, policy analyst for Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization division of Consumer Reports. “Kidde owes the public an explanation and the company shouldn’t rest until it gets as many of these fire extinguishers returned as possible.”

The recalled fire extinguishers came in red, silver and white. All have plastic handles or caps.

Kidde will replace your recalled fire extinguisher for free. To claim your replacement, verify that you have a recalled extinguisher by comparing your extinguisher(s) to the CPSC recall list. The list along with instructions on how to get the your free replacement and return your defective unit are at www.Kidde.com or you can call Kidde direct at 1-855-271-0773.

It is important that you take this action IMMEDIATELY and that you share this potentially live saving information with friends, family and business associates.

Residential Inspector of America has been screening homes for CPSC recalled installed systems and appliances for years using the RecallChek program. During the RIA inspection the label of every installed system and appliance is uploaded to RecallChek for comparison to the CPSC data base.

The RIA customer will receive a notice from RecallChek with the results of the data base comparison. If there is a recall, the customer will be given information on how to contact the manufacture of that system for a replacement, repair or refund.

When this is done during a listing inspection it can increase the value of the home and reduce repair requests because the manufacture can respond to a defect at no cost to the home seller!

Because the CPSC data base is constantly changing, RecallChek automatically updates and informs every RIA customer monthly on the status of the systems in their home for as long as they own the home.

The RecallChek program is a true value add during the home inspection and is an important liability management tool for agents who refer Residential Inspector of America.