Re: Electric Blanket Fires

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On 1/26/06, George McLaughlin wrote:
> I am interested in hearing from anyone who has had an
> experience with an electric blanket catching fire, or
> overheating to the point of causing scorching or a serious
> burn. If you were the victim I am interested in the facts
> of your incident. If you are a lawyer and have such a case
> I have information that you may find helpful. My email
> is: gmclaughlin@mhmlawfirm.com

I had a sunbeam Queen size electric blanket set fire to my
bed (aka mattress)last year. Both the blanket and controller
were defective. The controller survived deformed from the
heat inside of it but with a hole out the bottom that started
the fire. The controller that caught fire was on the opposite
side of the bed from me and the one on my side started to
flash it's light on and off. I tried to turn it off but it
would not shut off, i crawled accross the bed to pull the
plug and the other controller which was setting the fire
showed a flash of white light as i pulled the plug. I reached
down and picked up the hot controller burning my hand before
i could drop it. Not worrying about the pain i ran for water
to put the fire out. After putting the fire out as far as i
could see i kept a fire vigil all night in case the fire was
still smoldering inside the mattress and could start up again
due to spontaneos combustion from the inside. The mattress is
or was a Simmons beauty rest black lable top of the line
mattress with a ten year warranty full replacement for
everything except fire. The failure of the controller also
damaged my electric clock,computer scanner,Laser Printer and
computer interface card. Since a replacement mattress will be
thicker than my present mattress due to the manufacturers
bigger is better policy the base the mattress sits on will
have to be modified by a cabinet maker or a finish carpenter.
The estimated damages will probably come to about Seven
thousand dollars just for those items.

I reported to the claims adjuster (Executive Solutions)
Jarden/Sunbeam that i was suffering nightmares and loss of
sleep and would like to get closure on the claim. At first
they ignored me,then when i kept calling back they had a
supervisor talk to me and she offered $712 which is about ten
percent of losses. That was a price for a cheap mattress off
the internet. She refused to talk of the other items let
alone the trama. I mentioned suing and she said the only time
they will even consider settling with me would be when they
have the lawsuit papers in their hands.

Theres more , but that is enough for now