Attorneys Investigating Kenmore Frigidaire Oven, Range Fire Hazard Lawsuits

If your Kenmore, Frigidaire or Electrolux oven caught fire, overheated or melted, you may be able to participate in a class action lawsuit to get your money back for the oven.

What’s Going On?

A class action lawsuit has been filed alleging that certain Kenmore, Frigidaire and Electrolux ovens are defective and prone to catching fire. The suit claims the defect lies in the ovens’ control boards, which control the main function of electric and gas oven ranges, including heat and temperature controls.

In 2009, Electrolux recalled about 200,000 Frigidaire and Kenmore Elite Smoothtop Electric ranges over a “serious electrical defect,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit claims that the defect outlined in the suit is very similar to that which prompted this recall.

Reports of Self-Cleaning Ovens Overheating, Catching Fire

One of the plaintiffs alleges that she purchased a Kenmore gas oven from Sears online in mid-January 2015. Almost a year later, the complaints says, the ovens’ electrical components caught fire. The plaintiff claims that she could not turn the oven off using the controls and had to unplug it. The fire department had to be called to deal with the fire, which caused damage to the cabinets, kitchen floor and other areas of the house.

Dozens of consumers who experienced problems with their Kenmore ovens and ranges have posted similar complaints online. In many cases, these individuals said they noticed the unintended overheating in enough time to prevent the appliances from catching fire, but often had to disconnect the electricity running to these stoves to do so. Others claimed that when the ovens did catch fire, surrounding property was also damaged.

Some of these complaints can be read below [sic throughout]:

“On Christmas Eve this year, I preheated oven and smelled weird electric or plastic burning smell. Wasn't sure what smell was from, put muffins in to bake. Oven cooked way too hot and burnt muffins in 10 minutes. Turned oven off and sparks, smoke and black ash poured out of top…Clearly, the oven sparking and smoking was caused by a defect in their product. Afraid for my safety, I unplugged stove until I could hire my own repairman to come and diagnose stove…$260 repair, had to replace control board.”
— CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM, KARLA OF STANSBURY PARK, UT

 “Our 5 year old Kenmore Elite Electric Range (model 790.9911) caught fire last night and we were very fortunate to have been in the room. I turned on one burner to heat water and turned the (convection) oven on to warm some food. Within 2 minutes, we heard an electrical crackling buzzing sound instead of the convection oven fan noise. I immediately tried to turn off the oven and black smoke began pouring out of the back of the oven and the stove would not turn off. Within seconds, flames were shooting out of the back of the oven where the vent grill is. My husband ran to turn off the main power in the house. Fortunately the flames extinguished themselves before catching fire to the cabinets.”
— COMPLAINTSBOARD.COM, HYCE OF MASSACHUSETTS

“My Kenmore range turns on by itself. Last night, it turned on and my did not notice it. It got so hot that the oven glass shattered. It's unplugged now. No more Kenmore's for me.”
— NEAL, COMPLAINTBOARD.COM

“About 10 -20 minutes into the self cleaning mode of our Kenmore range there was smoke billow out of the top that had the most incredibly strong and suffocating chemical smell. I immediately turned it off and tried opening all doors and windows while it was so hard to see and breathe through the dense smoke. I had to keep my mouth and nose covered with a towel, but my eyes burned severly for hours. I have been coughing and hacking eversince, (a month) and I am sure my lungs have been damaged. My husband, daughter and cat were in the home at the time, and they have similar symptoms. Never have I experience anything like this from a self cleaning stove.”
— SUSAN, COMPLAINTBOARD.COM

“Oven starts to emit black smoke and bursts into flame. Happens at no specific temp. Afraid to use self clean mode. Doesn't happen all the time nut frequently enough that we can't use the oven unless someone keeps and eye on it. Oven is less than 3 years old and have only used it infrequently.”
— MIKEY66, COMPLAINTBOARD.COM

“I have a Sears Kenmore Electric Range Model # 911.93488990 and was cooking dinner a few nights ago. I was just about to open the oven when the thing exploded and I screamed from the shock. After a few minutes I opened it and the whole element was on fire. After calling my Husband in from outside to see, we watched as the fire continued all around and the pieces just fell off. The only way we finally got it to stop was by disconnecting the oven.”
— SADIE & RUBY, COMPLAINTBOARD.COM

How a Class Action Lawsuit Can Help

If the class action lawsuit is successful, potentially thousands of consumers could seek compensation for their stoves and any damage they caused. Furthermore, a lawsuit could help hold the manufacturer accountable for releasing the product into the marketplace.

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