SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20240518-1E01F-2147339151. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: SkyTech UN3S RX (fireplace remote controls). Incident: Approximately 4 year ago, I purchased 3 SkyTech fireplace remote controls through CJ Bennett Supply in St Charles, MO as part of a home renovation project. The controllers work on a radio frequency similar to a garage door opener. During the summer of 2023, we experienced a situation in which the fireplace started spontaneously. No one was touching, or even near, the controller when it happened. Of concern is that the flues were closed and could have resulted in a soke filled home or a fire. After that event, we had the controllers serviced by a fireplace contractor who changed the frequencies, believing that would solve the problem. Over the ensuing months, the same event happened 3 more times, once in the first fireplace and once each in the other two fireplaces. Fortunately, we were at home during each of these events. The last event was in December 2023. At that point, we notified both the distributor and the manufacturer, SkyTech, and removed the controllers. When we initially called SkyTech, the representative handling the call told us that they had heard of the problem before and asked for the model numbers for the controllers. I took pictures of the units and called SkyTech about a week later. This time, the representative put me on hold and then returned to the call with an supervisor. I have notes about the call and the names of the SkyTech employees. At that point, the tone of the call changed and the supervisor was insistent that I was doing something wrong and would not even respond when I told her that these spontaneous combustion events occurred when no one w