Two Elkhart area RV industry businesses are customers of a company recalling millions of fire extinguishers nationwide.
This story by Aimee Ambrose originally appeared in The Goshen News.
Kidde, a North Carolina-based manufacturer of fire safety products, issued the recall Nov. 2 of 142 models of disposable personal brands of fire extinguishers, including those sold with RVs, boats and commercial trucks.
Bob Gunn Associates and LaVanture Products, both in Elkhart, purchased extinguishers from Kidde as part of their wholesale businesses, which supply hardware and parts to RV manufacturers. The devices were intended to be installed in new vehicles during their production, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration document shows.
The recall doesn’t significantly affect the company as it has about a 5-percent market share of fire extinguisher sales to RV producers, LaVanture explained.
The bulk of the recall has a larger impact on individual consumers.
Kidde called back nearly 38 million fire extinguishers over concerns they can become clogged, or need excessive force to activate, or the nozzle could detach and hit the user during a fire emergency, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in an announcement.
The recall followed about 391 reports of problems, including one that resulted in a person’s death during a car fire in 2014, and others that resulted in about 16 injuries, according to the CPSC.
Affected extinguishers include eight models of push-button “Pindicator” devices manufactured between August 1995 and Sept. 22, while the bulk of the recall involves 134 models of fire extinguishers produced between January 1973 and Aug. 15.
Customers with a recalled fire extinguisher can have it replaced for free by calling Kidde at 855-271-0773.