Amazon Hand Warmers Lawsuit Claims Defective Products Sparked Fire Leading to Woman’s Death

Lawsuit adds to a growing wave of claims over battery-powered warming products, including heated insoles, which plaintiffs allege have caused fires and severe burn injuries.

The daughter of a California woman who died from severe burn injuries has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that defective rechargeable hand warmers sold on Amazon suddenly ignited while her mother was using them in bed.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Felicia Tan in Santa Clara County Superior Court on May 18, naming Amazon.com Inc. and Ocoopa Innovations LLC as defendants. 

Tan claims the companies defectively designed and manufactured the battery-powered products and continued marketing them despite customer reviews, complaints and other reports warning that the hand warmers could overheat and catch fire.

Amazon Product Burn Injury Lawsuits

Rechargeable hand warmers are battery-powered devices designed to provide portable heat in cold weather. Many use lithium-ion batteries, which can overheat, ignite or enter thermal runaway if the product is defectively designed, manufactured or lacks adequate safety protections.

Tan’s lawsuit adds to a broader wave of claims involving rechargeable warming products, where plaintiffs allege battery-powered devices meant to provide comfort instead caused fires, severe burns, nerve injuries and other lasting harm. Recent heated insole lawsuits have raised similar allegations, claiming inadequate safeguards allowed the products to overheat while being worn.

Many of the claims focus on Amazon’s role in selling and distributing these products, with several complaints alleging the online retailer helped place allegedly dangerous battery-powered warming devices into consumers’ hands.

Hand Warmer Fire Allegations

According to the lawsuit, Tan’s mother, Sri Damajanti Sunarjo, was using Ocoopa Quick Charge rechargeable hand warmers in her bed at her Santa Clara County home on the morning of February 11, 2026, when the devices unexpectedly ignited and caught fire. She suffered severe thermal injuries and died on February 16, 2026.

The complaint indicates the Ocoopa Quick Charge hand warmers were purchased through Amazon on December 18, 2023, for Sunarjo’s use. Tan alleges the devices were defective because they ignited during foreseeable use and failed to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect.

Tan also points to safety assurances made by both companies. Amazon states on its website that it uses technology and continuous store monitoring to detect and prevent unsafe products, while Ocoopa advertised that its products were “rigorously tested for daily use” and provided “certified safety that you can trust.”

However, the lawsuit alleges Amazon and Ocoopa knew or should have known the hand warmers posed a risk of fire, injury and property damage based on customer reviews, complaints and other reports involving the product and similarly designed devices. Despite those warnings, Tan claims the companies failed to recall the hand warmers, strengthen the safety warnings or take other steps to protect consumers.

“At all times herein mentioned, the above-described HANDWARMERS were defective by reason of defects in the manufacture, in that the performance of the HANDWARMERS differed from their design or specifications, and further differed from the intended performance of typical units of the same product line, in that they spontaneously caught fire when being used in an intended and reasonably foreseeable manner.”

— Felicia Tan v. Amazon.com Inc. et al.

The complaint raises claims for strict products liability involving manufacturing and design defects, negligence, wrongful death and post-sale negligence. Tan seeks general and special damages for the loss of her mother’s care, comfort and companionship, as well as funeral and burial expenses and other economic and noneconomic losses.

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