Re: Electric Blanket Fires

More | Report Post

On 2/15/08, Barbara F Lamb wrote:
> 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
On 4/13/08 my house burned down because of a Sunbeam electric
blanket. I am amazed to find out that there has been several
lawsuits against Sunbeam related to their faulty electric
blankets. My estimated damage to just repair my home is
$189,000 my insurance company has offered me $89,000 needless
to say they are suing Sunbeam and going to recoup who knows
how much!!!! I am told by my insurance co to not sue Sunbeam
because it might affect them recouping their money. Ha!