SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20220309-38082-2147357301. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Lowes brand "Kobalt" leaf blower Kobalt 140mph (Lowes brand "Kobalt" leaf blower. 140mph and 250cfm. Blue and black. The battery is a Kobalt, model# KB 240-05, LI-ION, 40V max, 72Wh. SN# KBV1810311 06/29/16 SL 0616.). Incident: My Lowes Kobalt leaf blower (40volt DC, battery operated) was sitting idle in my carport when it (the battery) self-combusted. It started a fire that almost went out of control before we were able to contain it. The fire department was called as a precaution. It caused over $2000 damage to the carport and contents it consumed. The battery was in the blower, it was not being charged, it had not been charged in a week or more and, no one had used it in a day or two. No one was injured. Environmental conditions; the blower was not in contact with anything that would short it out such as water, however, the weather was in the low 50s and the air was humid do to recent rain. The blower was purchased in 2016 and the battery had been replaced 3 years ago with a direct replacement (Lowes brand). the charger is the original that came with the blower.