SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20140513-2EF6D-2147444595. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Amana AER5830VA (Amana electric stove 30 inches Model #AER5830VA). Incident: I was broiling a steak in a new Amana electric stove (9 months old). The directions are to broil on the center rack with the door opened. I was in the next room and heard a loud pop. I ran into the kitchen and the kitchen towel was on fire. The towel was crumpled on the counter 12 inches from the open door. I did take pictures and measurements. Towel and counter were burning. I called the manufacturer and they sent a service man the next morning. He came and determined that it was a freak grease fire. The first thing he said was I should not have had the door open. I had him read the book directions. He said that stoves now have a thermostat and broiling is done with the door closed. This stove is their bottom of the line and has no thermostat. In that case all stoves no matter how basic should have a thermostat. This might have been tragic if a child was by the counter or the cabinets caught fire. The first incident with this stove was a few weeks before when I removed a pan from the heating element and there was a melted area. Their tech insists it is a gouge which is false. I did not know glass could melt. I am not new to cooking. I have been doing it for 40 years and have never had either of the above happen. This is not a safe product.