SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20171104-85A1A-2147395882. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Frigidaire FEF355AWA (Electric Range Oven). Incident: This evening the oven was turned on to cook dinner, 400 degrees F. 17 minutes into the bake cycle we noticed smoke filling the house, pressed [Timer] to stop the running timer, and then the [Clear off] button to stop the baking. The digital display still read 400, so it looked normal, and returned to displaying a clock. Dinner came out blackened, and the coated paper bowl cracked at a touch as it had become brittle due to overheating. As we discussed how this happened, and re-read the directions on the package, I noticed the oven coils continued to glow yellow-orange-hot. I rushed over to the oven, pressed [Clear] again, and then [Bake] but it acted frozen and would not respond to the key presses. I then rushed to the power panel to turn off the circuit breaker. I grabbed my thermal camera, and took pictures of the oven, because it was clearly in a runaway condition, and overheating out of control. I read temperatures around 660 deg.F, which I got a picture saved of, and some parts showed O.L., Over Limit, exceeding the camera's upper limit of 716 deg. F. This clearly did not meet the definition of "FAIL SAFE" and it appears we averted a house fire.