Vornado Heater Lawsuit Alleges Thermal Runaway Caused Fire, Severe Injuries to Child

Multiple product recalls have plagued Vornado space heaters, with more than 300 reports of the devices overheating, melting, smoking or catching fire between 1993 and 2004.

A Washington family has filed a lawsuit alleging their young son suffered smoke inhalation injuries after a Vornado space heater overheated and caught fire.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Clinton Hubbard, Jr. and Kelsie Hubbard on behalf of their son, Clinton Hubbard, III, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on September 12. It names Vornado Air LLC and ThreeSixty Group LTD as defendants.

Plaintiffs claim the heater lacked adequate overheating protections despite being marketed as having advanced safety features.

Vornado Space Heater Recalls

Vornado has faced safety concerns involving its electric space heaters for decades, including reports of the products overheating, melting, smoking and catching fire.

Between 1993 and 2004, the company allegedly received more than 300 reports involving those types of incidents. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) later charged Vornado with violating federal consumer protection laws by failing to timely report the problems.

Vornado has also issued several large recalls involving its space heaters. In 2014, nearly 80,000 units were recalled after reports of overheating and melting. Another recall was announced in 2018 for more than 350,000 heaters due to risks of overheating and fire.

According to the Hubbard family’s lawsuit, Vornado eventually acknowledged that a design change made in 1997 resulted in defective crimps at certain insulator connections, which contributed to overheating problems involving three heater models.

Vornado Heater Injury Allegations

The Hubbards claim they were using a Vornado VH200 Electric Portable Space Heater on September 16, 2023, while visiting family. The heater was operating inside a camper where C.H. III was sleeping when it allegedly overheated and started a fire.

C.H. III suffered severe smoke inhalation injuries and was airlifted from the scene for treatment at multiple children’s hospitals.

The complaint indicates a subsequent investigation found that the heater overheated, entered thermal runaway and reached temperatures high enough to ignite surrounding materials, producing toxic smoke that the child inhaled.

Plaintiffs allege the fire occurred despite Vornado marketing the heater as equipped with “advanced safety features to provide worry-free use.” According to the complaint, those protections were inadequate because the heater lacked sufficient safeguards to shut the unit down before dangerous overheating occurred.

The lawsuit further alleges the VH200 was defectively designed because it did not incorporate commonly available overheating protection that could have prevented the heater from reaching ignition temperatures. The Hubbards claim Vornado knew or should have known that its existing safety features were insufficient and that safer alternative designs were available.

“The construction defect in the subject Space Heater failed to prevent the device from overheating and entering thermal runaway, during the ordinary, foreseeable, and proper use of providing portable heat to Plaintiff Clinton Hubbard Jr. and his family, placing the Plaintiffs, any other potential users of the subject Space Heater, and consumers of similar Vornado Space Heaters in unreasonable danger while using them, and causing Plaintiffs’ injuries and damages.”

— Clinton Hubbard, Jr. et al. v. Vornado Air LLC et al.

The lawsuit raises allegations of design defect, construction defect, failure to warn and/or instruct, post-manufacture failure to warn and ordinary negligence. It seeks compensation for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, medical expenses, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement and disability.

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