Defective attic furnaces blamed for scores of home fires around California in the last decade were recalled Monday, meaning that tens of thousands of the potentially hazardous units can be repaired or replaced at the expense of the distributors, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced.
The recall and a pair of recent class-action legal settlements promise relief for homeowners who have units made by now-bankrupt Consolidated Industries. Many consumers had balked at paying $2,000 to $3,000 to replace the furnaces, even though they had been warned that the aging units could overheat and touch off fires.
The federal consumer agency, which knew about the problem furnaces for years but failed to warn residents, will recall about 30,000 units, roughly one-fifth of those made by Consolidated Industries and installed in attics around the state from 1983 to 1995.
As part of the action, seven companies that distributed Consolidated units in the state will voluntarily repair or replace the gas-fired attic furnaces, sold under at least 30 brand names in parts of Northern and Southern California.
Reports by federal safety engineers who tested the furnaces show they cause fires because of alterations Consolidated made to comply with California's regional smog control rules. The problem furnaces were installed in air quality management districts in Southern California and the Bay Area.
The recall comes about 10 months after a Times investigation revealed that thousands of California residents were unaware that they owned defective attic furnaces believed to have caused at least 50 fires in the state since 1990. Investigators said the furnaces are virtually guaranteed to fail, particularly after they have been in use for a decade or longer.
No deaths or injuries have been reported, but the furnaces ignited dozens of fires at both ends of the state, including a blaze in north Tustin that destroyed a Ferrari and a closet full of evening gowns and another fire that so traumatized a Porter Ranch family that they sought counseling for months.
The Times stories prompted hundreds of calls from consumers, including one who said a heating and air conditioning contractor commented that his furnace would have acted like "a big blow torch" in his attic if he had turned it on last winter.
