CPSC, BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. Announce Recall of Red Devil Gas Grills

PRODUCT: Gas Grills - BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., of Natick, Mass., is recalling about 2,800 Red Devil gas grills sold at BJ's Wholesale Club stores. These red metal gas grills have a tripod stand. They have a logo on the label of the lid and grill base showing a devil cooking at a grill with the writing, "Red Devil." The lid also reads "The Portable Outdoor Kitchen." Components sold with the grill include a heat plate, an oversized skillet with handles, a table-safe serving trivet, and carrying totes. BJ's Wholesale Club Stores sold these grills from about May 2000 through June 2002 for $70.

PROBLEM: The product's design allows consumers to light the grill at an air intake tube, instead of at the burner. Though the grill appears to function normally, gas inside the air intake tube ignites. The tube can reach temperatures of up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit and present a burn hazard to consumers. In grills manufactured before August 1998, the heat produced by lighting the grill at the air intake tube damaged the plastic support piece, and caused the grill to fall to the ground. When it collapses, flames from the grill can burn nearby consumers and ignite surrounding combustibles.

INCIDENTS/INJURIES: More than 1,000 consumers returned their grills to the manufacturers because the grills collapsed. Other retailers have reported 44 incidents of consumers suffering burns to legs, hands and fingers, including reports of some third degree burns, after the grills collapsed during use. There have been no incidents reported by BJ's Wholesale Club customers.

WHAT TO DO: CPSC urges consumers to stop using these grills immediately. Consumers who purchased Red Devil gas grills from BJ's Wholesale Club Stores can return them to the local BJ's Wholesale Club for a refund. For more information, call BJ's Wholesale Customer Service at (800) BJS- CLUB (257-2582) anytime, or visit the firm's web site at www.bjs.com. The Home Shopping Network (HSN), QVC, Value City, Schottenstein and Wal- Mart previously notified their customers about the hazard these grills pose, and provided a remedy. Consumers who purchased their Red Devil Gas Grills from another retailer, should contact the retailer. If that retailer does not provide a refund, repair or replacement for the grill, consumers should contact CPSC at (800) 638-2772 anytime. About 155,000 of these grills were manufactured by e4L Inc., of Encino, Calif., and Quantum North America Inc., of Encino, Calif. Because these manufacturers are out of business, CPSC issued a warning about these grills in May 2002. Additional Red Devil gas grills were manufactured by Cadac, of Roodepoort, South Africa, and also are included in the recall. CPSC sued e4L Inc. and Quantum North America Inc. to obtain a recall, and an administrative law judge granted CPSC a default judgment when these manufacturers failed to appear. The firms are liquidating their assets under bankruptcy law. Since Quantum and e4L have declared bankruptcy, there is no remedy available for grills bought from retailers other than BJ's Wholesale Club, HSN, QVC, Wal-Mart, Value City and Schottenstein stores. About 19,300 of these grills, sold directly by e4L, were recalled in July 1998 because the burners could disconnect from the burner pan. The firm received 21 reports of the burners on these grills disconnecting and one consumer suffered burns. Even if consumers participated in this previous recall program, they should stop using these grills since this warning addresses a different hazard.