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Warnings fail to prevent furnace fires November 19, 2001 By TERI SFORZA About 50 blazes have been tied to faulty gas furnaces in California - seven last winter -- even after officials repeatedly warned people that the furnaces are dangerous and must be inspected and replaced or repaired. And the fires are expected to continue. "There are still thousands of these furnaces in homes, and we'll keep seeing incidents until they're all gone," said Mike Freige, senior fire inspector in Torrance, who has led the charge to educate people about the danger. "Fortunately, the weather has been holding out ... But I'm sure we'll see more," Freige said. No deaths or injuries have been linked to the furnaces, but property damage has totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars. This year, as people prepare to fire up their furnaces for the winter chill, legal settlements promise to provide some money to help cover the cost of repairs or replacements. Q: Which furnaces are suspect? A: Gas-fired furnaces manufactured by Consolidated Industries (formerly Premier) pose an extreme fire risk, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned last year. They're attic-mounted and were installed in about 190,000 California homes between 1983 and 1994, under many different brand names. For a complete list of brands and model numbers, see the Torrance Fire Department's Web site, http://www.tfd.torrnet.com/ ; the Orange County Fire Authority's Web site, http://www.ocfa.org/press/pr_commsafety.htm ; or call the OCFA at (714) 289-7850. Q: What's wrong with the furnaces? A: Steel rods were installed above the burners to reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions and meet California air-quality standards. These "Nox rods'' can get very hot, cracking the furnace casing and allowing flames to escape. Q: How do I know if I have a faulty furnace? A: If you have a gas furnace in your attic and it was installed between 1983 and 1994, officials urge you to have it professionally inspected. Licensed contractors can be found in the Yellow Pages under "heaters, sales and service." Inspections cost about $50. Be sure your contractor has a California license number (to check, see http://www.cslb.ca.gov/). Your contractor can help you decide whether to repair the unit or replace it. Q: Is this a big problem in Orange County? A: More than 184,000 new homes, condominiums and apartments were built here in the 12 years the faulty furnaces were on the market. They were among the cheapest and were very popular. Q: How much would replacement cost? A: Replacements have been running $1,600 to $2,000. Q: Why doesn't the manufacturer pay to replace it? A: Because the manufacturer doesn't exist anymore. The Consumer Product Safety Commission knew about the problem for years but delayed issuing a warning until it could work out a recall/replacement agreement with Consolidated. Then Consolidated filed for bankruptcy and liquidated its assets. Q: So what should I do? A: Officials urge homeowners to pay for replacements or repairs now and join one of the class-action lawsuits in hopes of recouping part of the cost. Settlements have been reached, or are close to being reached, to reimburse some homeowners. Q: What are the settlements? In July, the Consumer Product Safety Commission launched a recall of 30,000 suspect furnaces carrying the labels Amana, American Best, American Standard, Bard, Comfort-Aire, Franklin Electric, GMC, Goettl, Goodman, Hamilton Electric, Janitrol, Johnstone, Liberty, Sunburst by Carrier Southern California and Trane. Homeowners could be reimbursed about $450. For information, call (877) 347-6456 or see http://www.furnaceinspect.com/ There are two more cases: The one against Consolidated, which has not been finalized, and another against Addison Products Co., which could reimburse homeowners about $600. For information on both, contact the law firm of Rob MacDonald and Richard G. White at (408) 808-1410 or see http://www.white-macdonald.com/ |