SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20190720-54ED6-2147379784. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: John Deere E130 (John Deere Riding Lawn Mower E130, 22hp, Green and yellow,). Incident: While mowing my yard with a John Deere E130 Riding Lawn Mower purchased from Lowes in Tyler, Tx. on June 29, 2019, the mower caught on fire. Within a matter of minutes, the entire mower was consumed with flames. I'm lucky I saw the flames and got off in time. The wind was blowing and the fire spread. Luckily though, no one was hurt, and I got the flames extinguished in the pasture that kept the fire from spreading and jumping the road that would have contacted other people's domiciles. I had already called the Baxter Volunteer Fire Dept. They sprayed water on the mower that completed its extinguishing. The fireman completed a report for which I have a copy as well as pictures and videos of the fire. I suspect that the muffler emitted a spark onto the dry grass which quickly caught fire. The mower's muffler is very low to the ground and does not have a spark arrestor. My old John Deere LX188 has a spark arrestor around the muffler to prevent this type of incident.