38M units under recall after death

Amassive recall of 37.8 million fire extinguishers has been issued by the federal government.

The extinguishers manufactured by Kidde, those with plastic handles and those with push buttons, can become clogged or require excessive force to discharge and can fail to operate during a fire emergency, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The agency says Kidde is aware of one death because of the defect. It happened during a 2014 car crash when “emergency responders could not get the recalled Kidde fire extinguishers towork,” the CPSC recall announcement said. Additionally, there have been 391 reports of faulty extinguishers that resulted in 16 injuries including smoke inhalation and minor burns.

The recall involves 134 models of Kidde fire extinguishers thatwere manufactured between Jan. 1, 1973, and Aug. 15, 2017. Some of those models were the subjects of recalls in 2009 and 2015.

Specifications for the recalled fire extinguishers are available on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’ s website, cpsc.gov.

According to the CPSC, consumers should contact Kidde to request a free replacement fire extinguisher and for instructions on returning the ones that have been recalled.

Kidde can be contacted toll-free at 855-271-0773 or online at kidde.com.