| Office of Information and Public Affairs | Washington, DC 20207 |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 12, 2007 Release #07-080 |
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 |
WASHINGTON , D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing today that Nexgrill Industries Inc., of City of Industry, Calif., has agreed to pay a $300,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that the company failed to report a hazard with its gas grills. The penalty has been provisionally accepted by the Commission.
CPSC alleged that the firm failed to report a defect with Nexgrill Gas Grill Model 720-0025 in a timely manner. Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to immediately report product defects to the Commission.
Between April 2004 and October 2005, Nexgrill received 20 reports of gas grill fires, including three reports of minor burn injuries. The Commission alleged that Nexgrill failed to report the defect to the Commission for at least 10 months, even after it had sufficient information that the gas grills contained a defect which could create a substantial product hazard or created an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death. Nexgrill voluntarily recalled about 16,000 of the grills in June 2006.
The defect involves the grill’s fuel hose that connects the propane tank to the burner manifold. The fuel hose can be exposed to temperatures that can damage it or cause the hose to separate from the burner manifold. If this occurs, a gas leak and/or fire hazard can result in injury and property damage.For more information about the recall, consumers should contact Nexgrill Industries Inc. at (888) 361-0888 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or visit the company’s Web site at http://nexgrill0025.serorder.com to receive a free, self-installation retrofit heat shield assembly.
In agreeing to settle this matter, Nexgrill denies it violated federal reporting requirements.