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Recalled box fan blamed for fire
  
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By TANA ROSS
“I always turn off everything before I leave,” the hairdresser who has been a partner in J&D Barber and Beauty Shop for 22 years said. “I knew the fan was turned off that day.”
The fan was a Lasko box fan in her bedroom, and one on a February 2006 recall list. Mizell said the fan was turned off at the time of the fire but still plugged in, allowing electrical current to flow through the cord to the appliance.
The Montgomery County Fire Marshall’s office investigated the fire, which caused extensive damage to the 3,000-square-foot home owned by Mizell and her husband, Stephen Mizell.
“The bedroom was totaled and the hallway burned,” Mizell said. “There was heavy smoke damage throughout and the fire reached into the attic.”
The fire marshal’s report filed by Investigator Jeff Fox stated there was a “heavy burn area and hole burned underneath the area that the box fan was located.” The box fan in question is one of eight listed on the Lasko web site for recall.
Mizell said the problem and probable cause of the fire is the insulation on the wiring of the fan. Two screws that secure the insulated wire are at fault, allowing the cord to rub with the vibration of the fan over a period of time.
The Lasko web site states, “A potential electrical failure in the fan motor can pose a fire hazard. The recall includes several models of fans which were sold at major retail stores, home improvement centers, hardware stores and other retailers nationwide between 1999 and as late as 2004. Consumers should stop using these fans immediately.”
Lasko is offering a free fan protection cord adaptor for the models listed on the recall.
While Mizell and her family wait for their home to be repaired, which contractors estimate may be completed in nine weeks, she is remembering how grateful she was the day of the fire for the first responder who came to her daughter’s rescue.
“My 26-year-old daughter moved back in with us last spring,” she said. “She was the one who found the fire and called 9-1-1. The Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department first responder was there before she completed the 9-1-1 call.”
Fortunately no one was injured in the fire however, the Mizell’s 8-year-old family cat, Savannah, was a fatality of the fire. With estimated losses of $30,000 Mizell said she may recover the difference of property lost to the incident through a law suit her insurance company, Seina, is pursuing against Lasko. However, she said her main objective is to warn others.
“This was a box fan,” she said. “I never dreamed a box fan could do something like this.”
Lasko box fan recall:
A Lasko box fan has been blamed in the June 28 home fire of a Magnolia family.
According to the owner, the fan was one of several on a recall list manufactured between 1999 and 2001 and sold between 1999 and 2004. The Lasko fan recall list includes its:
- Premium Box Fan.
- Compact Box Fan.
- Box Fan with Thermostat.
- Air Director.
- Cyclone with or without Thermostat.
- Air Companion.
- Wind Tunnel with or without Thermostat.
- Wind Machine.
Anyone with one of the fans is advised to stop using it immediately and contact the U.S. Product Safety Commission at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html or call 1-800-638-2772 or Lakso Products recall at, www.laskoproducts.com /recall/recall_fans.html.
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