Most of us don't consider the potentially dangerous implications of having a refrigerator in our kitchen. After all, it is just a refrigerator, right? That may depend on what a Texas judge says in response to a recently filed wrongful death lawsuit alleging that four people are dead after their refrigerator started a fire which spread throughout their home and ultimately killed them.

According to the fire marshall, the fire began near the backside of a faulty refrigerator or in the refrigerator's compressor system. The fire then spread to the kitchen wall, and continued to spread into the living area and throughout the Nacogdoches home. The four occupants of the home retreated into a back room and became trapped by oncoming flames. All four suffered fatal injuries.

The plaintiff, also a resident of the house, was at work during the fire, and later returned to find his home destroyed and family members deceased. After fire marshalls determined the cause of the fatal fire, he filed a wrongful death lawsuit last month in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division.

The lawsuit was filed against defendants Whirlpool Corp., KitchenAid Inc., and KitchenAid Delaware Inc. Among the allegations against them are claims that the defendants manufactured an unreasonably dangerous and defective refrigerator, that they negligently failed to use ordinary care to protect the public, that they negligently failed to warn or give adequate notice of the tendency of the refrigerator to fail, and that they, in fact, knew that the refrigerator would ignite. Charges against the defendants include negligence, gross negligence, breach of warranty, failure to warn, and strict liability.

The plaintiff seeks a variety of wrongful death damages, including those for loss of care, support, advice, companionship, inheritance, care, and counsel, in addition to survival damages for physical pain and mental anguish, funeral expenses, and various exemplary damages.

Source: SE Texas Record, "Suit claims defective refrigerator caused fatal fire in Nacogdoches", Michelle Massey, 3 November 2010