SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20260508-CFC47-2147319648. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Whirlpool WMH31017HZ08 (Over stove mounted Microwave oven.). Incident: Microwave had flames coming out of the exhaust behind the control panel and filled the house with smoke. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed in the exhaust opening and then disconnected and removed the microwave. The fire was very sudden and had I not been able to quickly put it out it would have caused major damage. It was mounted above the stove and we have oak cabinets on three sides. The unit was about two years old and out of warranty. I called Whirlpool and told them what happened. They had a local company look at the unit. They said the high voltage transformer had caught on fire. Whirlpool offered to give me a prorated credit on a new Whirlpool microwave. I had already bought another unit that was not a Whirlpool. My fear is that this model is defective and other units may have a defective transformer and could catch fire resulting in a loss of property and possibly injury.