SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20251109-7E6BD-2147326479. Severity: Injury, Seen by Medical Professional. Product: Onan Cummins A074Z436 (Onan Cummins 4500i Portable Generator). Incident: Two Onan Cummins 4500i generators running in parallel to power a fifth wheel camping trailer. The generators caught fire and destroyed my truck with its blaze. Purchased new in June 2025, fire happened in June 2025 after approximately 11hrs of use. Personal insurance company hired a fire investigator and I hired my own private fire investigator to oversee the investigation. A engineering teardown was performed and the two generators were discovered to have an unattached fuel vent hose that allowed fuel to vent inside the running generators. This improper venting ultimately gave fuel to ignite a fire. The insurance company notified Onan Cummins in September 2025 that the insured was not at fault and the generators were improperly built and a fire hazard. To my knowledge, there has not been a recall to other unknowing consumers who are at risk for real serious bodily injury or death. We had to put the fire out before it caught the forest on fire and destroyed our camper with little children and animals inside. While putting out the flames a family member suffered smoke inhalation injuries.