|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
|
CONTACT: Media Relations
|
|
June 8, 1995
|
(301) 504-7908
|
|
Release # 95-131
|
|
CPSC, Meco Corporation Announce Free Fix Kit For Smoker Grills
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Meco Corporation of Greeneville, Tenn., announced today a program to give owners of Meco brand charcoal smokers a kit to reduce the risk of fire from hot coals falling through a hole in the bottom of the pan.
The kits fit Meco Smokers and Grills with the model numbers 5022-3, 5024-2, and 5025-2. Model 5022-3 is red or black painted steel. Model 5024-2 has a stainless steel body with a black hood. Model 5025-2 has a stainless steel body and hood. Each of the Meco charcoal water smokers has a black charcoal pan with a hole in it, a metal water pan in the middle of the unit, and grills for food at the top of the unit. Since 1983, Meco has sold about 253,000 of these smokers nationwide through wholesalers and retailers, including many mass merchandisers, from about $75 to $180 each.
The company is voluntarily participating in this program to help prevent the possibility of fires. Using the smoker over a flammable surface is contrary to current warnings and instructions included with the Meco smokers.
Consumers should call Meco Corporation at (800)251-7558 for a free kit to close the hole in the pan. To help reduce the risk of fire, consumers should never operate charcoal water smokers on or near flammable surfaces, even after the hole in the pan is closed.
CPSC is investigating other brands of charcoal water smokers that may present a similar fire risk. CPSC views all charcoal water smokers, which have exposed charcoal pans with holes that can allow coals to fall out, as a potential fire risk.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov
CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals - contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @OnSafety or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.