Consumer electronics company LG is withdrawing hundreds of thousands of electric range units from the market citing fire risk posed by the products.
About 500,000 units, manufactured in Korea and Mexico, are being recalled.
The ranges were sold nationwide via major retailers such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Best Buy, and other appliance stores as well as through LG.com. The items were priced between $1,400 and $2,650 and were sold from 2015 through January 2025. In total, 22 model numbers are being recalled.
CPSC said it had received 86 reports of “unintentional activation” of the front-mounted knobs.
“These LG ranges have been involved in more than 28 fires. At least five fires caused extensive property damage totaling over $340,000. At least eight minor injuries have been reported, including burns, and there have been reports of three fires involving pet deaths,” the agency stated.
LG is offering “more prominent” labels to customers that remind them to use the lock out/control lock safety function included in the ranges to “disable activation of the heating elements when the range is not in use.”
LG advised customers to keep children and pets away from the knobs and to ensure the knobs are off before they go to bed or leave their homes.
“The range can short-circuit if liquids boil over or are spilled and turn on the griddle unexpectedly, posing a burn and fire hazard,” said the CPSC recall notice. About 44,000 units were recalled in the United States.
Fire Risks, Safe Handling
A September 2023 report by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) revealed that ranges or cooktops were involved in “53 percent of the reported home cooking fires, 88 percent of cooking fire deaths, and 74 percent of cooking fire injuries.”“Households with electric ranges had a higher risk of cooking fires and associated losses than those with gas ranges,” NFPA said. “Although 64 percent of households cook with electricity, four of the five (80 percent) ranges or cooktops involved in the reported cooking fires were powered by electricity.”
The rate of reported fires per million households was found to be 2.4 times higher in homes with electric ranges compared to their gas counterparts. Civilian fire death rates were 1.9 times higher while the civilian fire injury rate was 3.6 times higher for electric ranges than for gas ranges, the association said.
Hunt advises against leaving an empty pan on a cooktop burner that is hot. Burners located in the back should be used “as much as possible,” it said.
“Application of foil to a burner pan is not recommended,“ it said. ”Contact with the cooking coil should be intentional, and accidental contact with the cooking coil with a conductive metal, such as foil can result in a dangerous situation. Aluminum foil is also considered combustible and can fuse to your cooktop.”
As for an oven, Hunt recommends doing a safety check before using it every time. This involves ensuring that there is nothing in the oven and positioning the oven racks before preheating in order to prevent scalding.
Hunt advises consumers to close the oven door immediately after testing or removing food. It warned against using foil to line oven racks to catch grease.
