Rotary fire extinguishers not part of recall

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

The Charles City Rotary Club wants to assure people who received a free fire extinguisher in 2015 that the models distributed are safe.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall Thursday of more than 40 million fire extinguishers manufactured by Kidde because they might not work in an emergency or might pose a risk themselves.

Chris Garden, who leads the Charles City Rotary Club’s Service Project Committee, said Thursday the 1,500 fire extinguishers distributed free of charge as part of a club community project beginning in October 2015 were made by a different company.

“Our fire extinguishers were made by First Alert,” Garden said. “They’re not in the recall.”

The Rotary Club distributed 1,500 fire extinguishers free of charge in the winter of 2015-16 with the goal that every household in Charles City would have a fire extinguisher.

The fire extinguishers were paid for with $5,000 from the local club, a matching $5,000 from the Rotary Foundation, donations from the Charles City Fire Department and some surrounding volunteer departments, as well as a $3,500 grant from the Floyd County Community Foundation.

On Thursday the Consumer Product Safety Commission said one death has been linked to problems with the extinguishers made by Kidde.

In 2014, Brendan Rosko died in a Pennsylvania car crash after an extinguisher used by first responders malfunctioned.

The recall covers 134 models of push-button and plastic-handle extinguishers in the U.S. and Canada made from 1973 through Aug. 15, 2017. It includes models that were previously recalled in March of 2009 and February of 2015, the commission said.

The government says the extinguishers can become clogged and fail to spray when needed. Also, the nozzle can come off with enough force to pose an injury hazard.

Including the death, the safety commission says there have been 391 reports of extinguishers failing to work properly or of nozzles coming off, resulting in 16 injuries that included smoke inhalation and minor burns. Also, there were about 91 reports of property damage linked to the problem.

Owners of Kidde fire extinguishers should contact the company to ask for a free replacement and for instructions on how to return recalled models. Kidde can be reached at 855-271-0773 or at www.kidde.com.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.