Samsung recalls 1 million stoves that started 250 fires and killed pets

A recall has been issued for more than 1 million Samsung stoves after hundreds of reports of them being turned on accidentally, leading to fires that injured dozens and killed at least seven pets, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement Thursday.

Customers who own one of the 30 recalled models of Samsung electric ranges that the company has been selling since 2013 will be able to get a free set of knob locks or covers to minimize the risk of ignition by accidental contact with humans or pets, the company said in a statement announcing its voluntary recall Thursday.

More than 1.1 million electric ranges were included in the recall. The ranges were involved in about 250 fires, which led to about 40 injuries. Eight of the injuries needed medical attention, and there were 18 instances of “extensive property damage,” the commission’s statement said.

Asked exactly how many pets died, and why it took 11 years since the company started selling the flawed ranges before the recall was issued, a spokesperson for the commission declined to comment, referring to Samsung and the commission’s website for questions.

Christopher Langlois, a spokesperson for Samsung, said consumers should be mindful of the risks of accidental contact with range knobs for any stove. They should keep their stove tops clean and clear, keep children and pets away, and make sure that stoves are turned off after cooking, the company said in a statement.

Samsung is asking people who have one of its ranges to contact the company to see if they are eligible for the free, self-install knob locks or covers that reduce the possibility of accidental ignition.

Knob locks have little prongs that stick under the knobs, preventing them from moving out of the off position. Knob covers are small pieces of plastic that must be flipped down to reveal the push-and-turn mechanism that ignites a stove.

Some Samsung stove models have other knob technologies that reduce accidental starts. For some, the user is required to squeeze the knob to start the stove, while another model has an app that alerts an owner if the stove is on, Langlois said. Some of the app-configured stoves were included in the recall.

“Samsung did the right thing by issuing this recall,” Catie Cryar, a spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal rights organization, said in an email. “PETA urges everyone affected by this recall to request the appropriate stove locks or covers right away.”

In a video from a home security camera posted on the Colorado Springs Fire Department’s Facebook page last month, a dog can be seen standing up against the front of an electric stove. The stove top begins to glow and soon ignites some boxes that are on top of the stove — which leads to the kitchen’s becoming engulfed in flames. Although it is not clear if this range was made by Samsung, the video shows how easily a fire can break out through accidental stove-knob contact.

In 2016, Samsung, based in South Korea, recalled more than 2 million of its phones over fears of battery fires. And in 2022, the commission issued a recall statement for more than a half-million washing machines over fire hazards.