I heard this several days ago, but the brand mentioned was Whirlpool. On the other hand, this has been a very bad week so I could easily have missed updates. I do recall that the fire was always preceded by a burning smell that was easy to detect by anyone in the area, maybe in the whole house, and if the DW was stopped at that point an all-out fire was prevented.

You're right about class action suits. We just got a settlement on some investment thing that pays out three checks in 3 years for $8.80 each cashable only if you have an account at their bank. No account? Welcome to open one. Don't think so. A previous airline settlement gave us coupons for upgrades if you paid full price for the ticket. Who pays full price?

Called Kitchaid and the very nice customer service rep said that was not her area of expertise and then read me a letter obviously written one of their cororate legal people. Something to the effect of 1)we are aware of the "isolated" and very rare problems (is over a hundred known considered to be "isolated") that have occured. If we find that your model is one of the ones that are having this issue we will contact you blah, blah, blah. Basically the same information in the news report I have linked below. And again, from the info I have, it is not just one brand and not just one model #.

One correction on my part - I thought it was the CPA reviewing this, apparently it is the Consumer Product Safety Agency, who said they have received numerous reports.

I stressed that I did not want to wait until there is a fire and someone is hurt but my concerns fell on deaf ears (not the rep but the co.) What was disturbing is that at the end of this prewritten spiel they said that if we had any more questions, we should call 800-422-1230 (same # on the news report). Well, that was the phone number I had dialed originally, which lead me to her. When I mentioned this to her she said there was no one else I could talk with about the matter.

P.S. Not that I have a huge house but my bedroom is on a different floor at the opposite end of the house. Everyone else closes their bedroom doors and have slept through fire alarms caused by my cooking. For what it is worth I mentioned Garden Web and that I posted the information on the kitchen and appliance threads. I have attached the news report from the CT NBC station.

Here is a link that might be useful: CT local NBC news report

Everyone should read the lastest issue of Consumer Reports. It has an article about all types of kitchen appliances and fires. It seems no brand or type of appliance is left out. Lots of information.

This is from a Feb. 2, 2012 news report -the last line really caught my eye because I ALWAYS run my dishwasher before bed or leaving for work!! What does everyone else do?

SEATTLE -- Consumer Reports is sounding a warning about appliances in your kitchen that can suddenly catch fire.

One fire in a home started in the kitchen, caused by a toaster.

"It was just horrendous, just horrendous," said Beverly Uberti. "What wasn't destroyed by fire was destroyed by smoke and water damage."

Another fire started in a family's dishwasher while they were out of the house. A third erupted in a microwave, even though it wasn't being used.

Consumer Reporters poured through 69,000 reports of house fires blamed on appliances, and found that a significant number of those fires were not caused by human error.

"We found at least 23 percent are clearly attributable to problems with the appliances - mechanical, electrical, or design flaws," said Dan Diclerico with Consumer Reports. "In some instances, the appliances turned on by themselves."

Faulty appliances causing the most fires were ranges, dryers, air conditioners, refrigerators, and dishwashers.

"In the last five years, more than 7 million dishwashers have been recalled due to defects that could cause a fire," Diclerico said. "And nearly eight million other appliances have been recalled for fire risks."

Checking for recalls at recalls.gov is a good way to be alerted to problems. There are reasons that there more recalls due to fire hazards.

"Appliances have gotten a lot more complex, so more can go wrong," Diclerico said. "And many recalled products are being manufactured abroad, the majority in China."
Consumer Reports says until appliance design and quality are improved, homeowners are left with plenty to be concerned about. The magazine says homeowners should register new appliances with the manufacturer so they'll get recall notices.

Another tip: Don't run your dryer or dishwasher overnight or when you're away.

My cousin lostmost of her house last year to a dishwasher fire. She had it set to come on after they went to bed, and thankfully she and the baby got out!! I do not know what brand hers was.....

I can confirm it is not limited to DW's. Here is a pic of our pantry GE fridge that caught fire on Sunday. The fire started in the icemaker. We were home so avoided a more serious issue by smelling it and getting the fire out quickly.

GE is sending a tech out Friday.

As part of our reno, we put a fire extinguisher where it could be easily reached in case of a kitchen fire, did you? Do you have one planned? It won't always help, but it couldn't hurt.

I often run my dishwasher at night.

Some of the issues were due to microwaves turning themselves on and starting on fire. Electromagnetic interference has been turning on appliances such as gas ranges. Some need to get a suppressor to keep signals from the appliances.

From the article some tips you might not know....

Record your appliances names and numbers, keep in safe place. Often in a fire this info is destoyed.

Register appliances with manufacturer (you know that one)

Some people never got recall notices so check at
www.recalls.gov

Read about issues at www.saferproducts.gov and reportappliancefires@cr.consumer.org

Older wiring might not be able to handle modern appliances. May need to install arc-fault circuit interrupters.

If you have a fire, don't settle out of court as then the information on the fire cause is kept private.

Why are you trying to interfere with these companies making a profit? Are you against capitalism? If these companies don't make money, how will they hire people? Are you against those who are creating jobs?

Just a friendly reminder when politicians want government out of our lives and no regulations of corporations . . .

KA/Whirlpool need to get hit with more lawsuits. They don't need to be a class action.

One topic I have always wondered about and never seen discussed here--wiring appliances on circuits that can be manually turned off from the kitchen (obviously not for fridges). We can no longer be assured that any appliance meets even minimum safety standards, considering how few people there are to enforce them.

I cannot believe the response I have received as to the number of instances they or someone they know has had a similar incident yet the companies do not seem to want to acknowledge any responsibility. There are many links for me to research so I guess I have a lot more reading to do.

Meanwhile, mistakes happen and if Kitchaid were to advise me that my DW is defective and dangerous I would welcome a fix. Taking everyone's advise I will not run the DW if I am not close to the kitchen. Re: the leaks, the reason I bought this dishwasher is because my last one leaked and damaged the finished basement. Homeowners covered it minus my $1K deductible so it was not a cheap fix but my main concern is still with loss of life or limb.

To "shappy" from Appliances - I am far from being anti-corporation. The first thing I say when I call a service center in the country is "I am happy to be talking to someone stateside, we need to keep our jobs here". But think about how many people died in Pintos before Ford acknowledged they knew about the problem. Xpost Appliance

The ny times series on Apple and foxconn. An eye opener regarding whose making electronic components for all our products.