SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20181020-2D02A-2147384900. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Samsung NE58K9430 (Samsung Electric Range). Incident: We purchased a Samsung range for our kitchen on October 13, 2016. It is an electric range - model # NE58K9430SS - for which we paid $1219 at our local Home Depot. Since purchase we have had several close calls related to fire. The knobs to control the cooktop are located on the front of the unit. The knobs are very sensitive to touch and have been turned on without our knowledge with the slightest touch while cleaning or passing by. Once we actually left the house without realizing the cooktop was on and returned to find the cooktop bright red and so hot that the overhead vent fan turned on in response to the heat. Fortunately we had not left any pans or kettles on the stove. The most recent instance occurred on October 7, 2018. The burner was on without our realizing it and this caused a nearby pizza box to catch fire. Again, we were fortunate to have been able to get the box outside before the fire spread. These are two examples of several instances when the cooktop was on when we did not intend it to be. In reviewing information online and in speaking with Samsung, it is clear that this is a known issue that has caused many other consumers similar problems and safety concern. I received a call from Samsung on October 10, 2018 in response to a live chat and an email in which I expressed concerns about the unsafe functioning of this range. The Samsung representative acknowledged this is a known problem. Her only suggestion was that we use child-proof door handle covers on our stove knobs. Given the sensitivity of the knobs, the use of the child-proof covers does not preven