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Sydney family flees home after Samsung washing machines catches on fire

Esther Han

A Samsung washing machine caught on fire in a south-western Sydney home on Monday, triggering the resident to flee with her three grandchildren.

The fire occurred about midday at a house in Littimer Way in Ambarvale, according to Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Jeremy Fewtrell.

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Samsung washing machine bursts into flames

A Samsung washing machine caught on fire in a south-western Sydney home, forcing the resident to flee with her three grandchildren.

The top-loader is one of six models under recall by Samsung and it doesn't appear to have been repaired, he said.

"The fire was extinguished prior to FRNSW's arrival and was contained to the machine's control panel and hose," he said. "The home's occupants had self-evacuated and no one was injured."

Samsung launched a recall of six washing machine models in mid-2013. So far, 82 per cent of the 144,451 faulty machines have been repaired, refunded or replaced.

While the recall rate is impressive, fire investigators have expressed concern over the plastic bag-and-tape rework – approved by NSW Fair Trading – slamming it as "deficient".

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Samsung's latest recall figures show that there have been 317 incidents with faulty machines across Australia, including burning, melting and fires. Ten per cent of the incidents involved machines that have been repaired.

The resident, Joanne, who didn't reveal her surname, said she had only had the machine for about a year. It's unclear whether she knew about the recall.

"It started when all the smoke was going through my house and I come in to look around and see where it was coming from ... washing machine was absolutely on fire," she said.

"I told my family to get out of the house ... I was absolutely frantic because I have three grandchildren in this house, so I told everybody to get out of the house.

"I haven't had it for very long and this is the damage it's done, so they're very dangerous."

A Samsung spokeswoman said the company believes the unit had not been previously reworked. Samsung was working with authorities to investigate the matter and offer its support to the customer.

"We continue to work closely with the NSW Department of Fair Trading and we urge customers to check the model details of their Samsung washing machine to determine if their model is affected by the recall," she said.

The electronics giant has had a tough year. In September it recalled its Galaxy Note7 smartphones after numerous reports of it catching alight around the world.

Samsung urges consumers who may be impacted by the recall to visit samsung.com/au/washingmachinerecall or call 1800 239 655.

The following models are impacted:

  • SW75V9WIP/XSA
  • SW65V9WIP/XSA
  • SW70SPWIP/XSA
  • SW80SPWIP/XSA
  • WA85GWGIP/XSA
  • WA85GWWIP/XSA