fire-safety
Every record this desk has filed under fire-safety, newest first, each with the number of sources it can still show you.
Every recall can fail four ways, and last week's notices show all four
A recall sounds like a single event: a defect is found, a notice goes out, the thing gets fixed. Last week's federal notices show how many places that chain can break. A 2001 fire-sprinkler recall was closed in 2007, yet a Massachusetts assisted-living facility where ten residents died in a 2025 fire had not replaced dozens of recalled heads that a prior inspection had found. Mercedes mailed two owner letters with the same date, one saying the fix is ready and one saying it is not. Ford's F-150 fuel-tank recall names no warning a driver would notice. And a pressure washer sold on six major marketplaces has no recall at all, because the company CPSC names has not agreed to an acceptable one. The portable lesson: know which of the four failures you are exposed to, and what to do about each.
Also filed underrecallsconsumer-safetycpscnhtsa
CPSC and Tyco re-alert a 2001 recall of 35 million Central fire sprinkler heads whose rubber seals can keep them from opening in a fire, citing a 2025 Fall River fire that killed ten residents at a facility that had not replaced dozens of recalled heads an inspection had found, but the free replacement program closed in 2007 and the notice does not say who pays now.
On September 24 the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Tyco Fire Products urged building owners, property managers and others to look again for Central Sprinkler fire sprinkler heads recalled in July 2001, because minerals, salts and other contaminants in water can degrade their rubber O-ring seals so that a head can fail to activate in a fire. The recall covered 35 million Central heads plus about 167,000 sold under the Gem and Star names, and closed on August 31, 2007. CPSC cites a July 13, 2025 fire at an assisted living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, that killed ten residents; the facility had not replaced dozens of recalled heads identified during a prior fire-safety inspection. The release does not say whether any head failed in that fire. The free parts-and-labor program ended in 2007, and neither CPSC nor Tyco's September 24 FAQ says whether Tyco will supply or pay for replacements now; the FAQ says that under the NFPA 25 standard the property owner bears responsibility for any necessary replacement. The notice sets no deadline. Questions go to Tyco at Central-Sprinkler-O-Ring-Notice@jci.com or CPSC's hotline, 800-638-2772.
Also filed undercpscrecallsfire-sprinklersassisted-livingbuilding-safetyconsumer-safety
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