Daily Breeze newspaper
Monday, February 02, 2004

Faulty Furnaces Take Toll in Area

SOUTH BAY: Attic heaters, sold between 1983 and 1994, are causing fires. Four houses were damaged in January.
By Josh Grossberg Daily Breeze

For more than 10 years, a time bomb was ticking in the attic of Jim Donlan's Manhattan Beach home.

Late last year, while his wife and two children were home, it finally went off: A defective furnace caught fire and sent the family scurrying for safety. The family wasn't hurt and the Fire Department managed to put out the blaze quickly, but by the time it was extinguished their home suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

"We were very fortunate in at least three respects," Donlan said. "The smoke alarm alerted my family promptly, we were able to call 911 and the Fire Department responded within minutes and got it under control quickly. Otherwise, it could have been different."

What happened to the Donlans wasn't unique. So far this year, defective furnaces have damaged four houses in the South Bay -- one in Torrance, one in Redondo Beach and two in Manhattan Beach. As they do every winter, many South Bay residents are cranking up the heat. And some of them are learning the hard way that they are among the thousands of residents who own attic furnaces.

"There are thousands of homes out there with the potential of fire," said Mike Friege, the senior fire inspector for the Torrance Fire Department, who was involved in identifying the fire hazard posed by the furnaces. The heaters are among 190,000 fire-prone furnaces sold in California from 1983 to 1994.

Seven companies are offering to repair or replace the furnaces, which were sold under their own label, but manufactured by Consolidated Industries Inc.

Statewide, an estimated 50 fires have been caused by the heaters. No injuries have been reported. The units -- gas-fired horizontal furnaces -- were built with faulty steel rods above the burners. The rods, known as "NOx rods," were required to satisfy the California air quality regulations for nitrous oxide emissions. The rods help the devices run hotter, but also make them prone to catch fire.

Affected units have serial numbers starting with HAC, HBA, HCA, HCC, GSH, THN, GSE, ESG and ISG.

A recall of the furnaces has long since expired, but Friege urges residents to check to see if they have one of the faulty devices. "It's extremely advisable that they contact The Gas Co. for an inspection," he said. "It's free. The beach areas are just rich with them because we do so much remodeling.

"The tales go on and on about times where people had to run from fires in the night. People need to take a look in their attics." Even people who are in the business of knowing about things like this are sometimes in the dark.

"A fire dispatcher found one in a home she bought," Friege said. "She came to me and was embarrassed to admit it."

Donlan knows firsthand that it's easy to forget about what's heating the house. And he also knows the possible consequences. "A lot of people don't check their furnace because it's in the attic," he said. "You don't think of it as having moving parts. It's not a car or a dishwasher where the motor burns out. We never had any trouble with our heater. We had no previous problems."

For more information about dangerous attic heaters and about how to inspect them, visit the Torrance Fire Department's Web site at www.tfd.torrnet.com.

Publish Date: February 1, 2004