SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20210419-C1B5B-3218708. Severity: Injury, Level of care not known. Product: General Electric PDW9280J10SS (Dishwasher). Incident: The consumer indicates that he turned his dishwasher on and approximately twenty minutes later smelled smoke in his home. When the consumer checked the dishwasher, he noticed that it was the source of the smoke so he looked down a small slot located on the door latch and saw flames. The consumer immediately got a fire extinguisher and was able to fit it through the slot, extinguishing the fire completely. The consumer then switched off the circuit breaker. The consumer notes that he burned his right index finger when he touched the On/ Off switch; all of the plastic around the switch melted but the unit inside as well as his dishes were not damaged since the fire was limited to the inside of the door. The consumer contacted the Manufacturer and explained the situation [REDACTED]; the representative he spoke to asked him to call back to schedule an inspection as their system was down but let him know that they would either repair the unit or give him a discount towards the purchase of a new one should his unit not be repairable. The consumer states that the unit was used once daily; the consumer notes that all the homes in his neighborhood have the same dishwasher but he is unsure if his incident as isolated. The consumer does not plan on keeping his dishwasher for at least the next thirty days.