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About 67,000 chest freezers are being recalled due to a possible risk of fire. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission along with Haier and Black & Decker announced the voluntary recall after discovering that the circuitry can overheat and potentially cause a fire. So far 18 freezers have been reported as overheating, and there have been four fires reported.

According to the recall, a capacitor in the freezer's circuitry can overheat, posing a fire hazard. There have been reports of minor property damage, consisting of smoke damage, damage to a wall, and food spoilage. No one has reported an injury from the recalled freezers.

Consumers should immediately unplug and stop using recalled freezers immediately unless otherwise instructed. Consumers should not resell the recalled products as it is illegal to do so. They can contact the company to schedule an appointment for a free repair to the freezer.

The recalled freezers are the Black & Decker BFE52 (sold at Walmart between January 2010 to September 2010) and the Haier ESNCM053E (sold at Amazon.com and other retailers from May 2010 to October 2010). The Black & Decker unit sold for around $150, while the Haier sold for between $220 and $290. The recalled freezers include serial numbers beginning with 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006 or 1007.

The CPSC is interested in receiving reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Visit https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx to file a report or call one of the following numbers:

• Firm's Recall Hotline: (877) 878-7579
• CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
• CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

If you are seeking additional information, you can visit the firm's website at www.chestfreezerrecall.com.

Related Resources:

• Black & Decker, Haier chest freezers recalled over fire hazard (Chicago Tribune)
• Defective and Dangerous Products (FindLaw)
• Defective and Dangerous Products - FAQ (FindLaw)