Cause of The Deadly Grenfell Tower Fire in London Found

Mary H. J. Farrell : Jun 28, 2017
Consumer Reports

"Appliance fires strike without warning. The best defense for consumers is to register new appliances, so they can be notified of any safety recalls or other problems." -Don Huber

(England)—[Consumer Reports] A Hotpoint refrigerator is the suspected cause of what the New York Times is calling Britain's deadliest fire in a century, the Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed at least 79 people earlier this month. Fire investigators are still examining the refrigerator to see what sparked the fire but have asked anyone who owns the European-made white Hotpoint FF175BP or graphite Hotpoint FF175BG to contact Hotpoint. (Photo: Grenfell Tower fire/via ConsumerReports.org)

The bottom-freezer refrigerators, which were not sold in the U.S., were made between 2006 and 2009, then discontinued. In that period, 64,000 models were sold, though it's unlikely that all are still in service. The refrigerators were made by the Italian company Indesit, which was acquired by Whirlpool in 2014.

"We are working with the authorities to obtain access to the appliance so that we can assist with the ongoing investigations," says Kristine Sherman, Whirlpool's senior manager of global media and public relations. "Under these circumstances, we are unable to speculate on further details at this time. We are addressing this as a matter of utmost urgency and assisting the authorities in any way we can. We will provide additional updates as our investigations progress."

Refrigerators are one of the leading causes of kitchen fires after ranges and microwaves. Consumer Reports analyzed appliance fires in a...

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