SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20191009-C0093-2147377232. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Jotul Katahdin GI 450 DV II TSI (Jotul Katahdin GI 450 DV II TSI gas fireplace insert. Serial # 30878). Incident: My wife and I purchased a Jotul Katahdin GI 450 DV II TSI, serial # 30878, on December 21, 2015. This is a gas fireplace insert that was bought from and installed by KC Stoves and Fireplaces of Alburtis, Pennsylvania. The fireplace insert would not start when we tried to start it on October 14, 2018. We went to KC Stoves on October 16, 2018 and [REDACTED], the owner, told me to replace the batteries. All batteries were replaced the day before. [REDACTED] then told me to look for a broken wire in the lower, control section of the fireplace. I asked why a wire would just break but I got no response. I looked in this area, behind a narrow door, and didn't see a broken wire. We had problems starting the insert off and on throughout the winter of 2018-19. We returned once more during the season, and were told to again look for a broken wire. On August 21,2019 we changed all batteries and tried to start the fireplace. It would not start. We went to KC Stoves the same day and again he told us to look for a broken wire. We returned home and this is when I checked the CPSC web site. Immediately I saw our fireplace was recalled in December 2012. The date on our Operating Booklet that came with the insert is 2012 and the serial # indicates 2012. Why were we sold a recalled fireplace that was 3 years old ? We went to KC Stoves on September 11, 2019 and showed [REDACTED] the recall notice. He made copies and said he would contact Jotul. On 9-24-2019 [REDACTED] from KC called and said she just faxed the info to Jotul. On 10-01-2019 [REDACTED] from KC called and left a message that was ha