Woman's months-old refrigerator explodes, significantly damaging home
RALEIGH-DURHAM, NC - A woman's kitchen was severely damaged when her refrigerator exploded.
Lenore Satterthwaite experienced a major inconvenience when her refrigerator stopped working, and all her food spoiled. However, that was nothing compared to what happened next: her fridge exploded.
Lenore was sitting at her computer when she heard a loud noise that felt like an earthquake. When she went to investigate, she found that her refrigerator had exploded, and the doors were on the floor. The explosion caused significant damage throughout her home, including the walls, furniture, and stove.
Lenore called 911 immediately, and firefighters responded. The Person County Fire Marshall investigated the incident and found that there was no evidence of an electrical fire or anything else in the house causing the event. They believe that the explosion originated from the refrigerator, but they could not determine the exact cause.
Lenore had purchased the Frigidaire refrigerator just the previous fall. Days before it exploded, she had requested a warranty repair from Frigidaire because the refrigerator was making a loud noise. A technician came to her home and identified that the fan wasn't working correctly, causing the temperature to be poorly regulated. He ordered a new fan, but the refrigerator exploded before it could be installed.
"I was on the computer, I thought it was an earthquake. It was so loud and I came in and the doors were on the floor," Lenore explained. "I just saw the refrigerator doors on the floor here and the holes in the wall. The whole wall was all about there. And the other side of the wall too," she said as she showed the destruction throughout her home after the incident.
The force was so great that it damaged her stove, walls, and furniture.
"He said this is your problem, he had the freezer part all apart. He said the fan isn't working properly to keep the temperature regulated so he had to order a fan," Lenore explained regarding the technician's visit.
She called Frigidaire and it was her homeowner's insurance that ended up covering all of the damage.
When I reached out to frigidaire, a representative said in part, "consumer safety is our top priority. We have reached out to ms. Satterthwaite to understand more we are actively reviewing her product and service information records."
"I hate for someone to go through what I'm going through, I could have gotten seriously hurt," Lenore said.
She's thankful no one was in the kitchen when the explosion happened.
Exploding refrigerators aren't unheard of. There are some reports of it happening across the country, with a variety of manufacturers.
Experts say if you notice a problem, call for service right away.
