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Vic house fires linked to faulty Brivis Evaporative Coolers

January 25th, 2012

Vic house fires linked to faulty Brivis Evaporative Coolers

Victorians are being warned of faulty cooling units after a spate of house fires linked to the devices.

Firefighters have been called to four blazes in three days across the state this past week.

Both the CFA and Energy Safe Victoria say all the fires occurred in Brivis evaporative units that have subject to safety recalls over the past few years.

“Luckily no one was injured but we are very concerned that that may not be the case in coming days as we enter a period of hotter weather,” CFA Acting Deputy Chief Officer Ross Sullivan said in a statement.

Paul Fearson, the state’s director of energy safety, said in a statement that the fires showed how some homeowners still had the units that were impacted by the recall but were not aware of the recalls or weren’t having them serviced regularly.

“The only consolation is that these fires have not caused injuries,” he said.

The cooling units impacted by the recall are the Brivis Contour Evaporative Cooler and the Brivis Profiler Evaporative Cooler installed between August 2001 and October 2003.

A December 2008 product safety recall by the company stated: “Brivis has identified a potential defect in the supply fan motor starting device of some of its evaporative cooler units. The starting device in these units may fail and, in rare cases, property damage and/or personal injury could result.”

The hazard identified by the company back in 2008 was a “fire hazard”.

All product safety recalls can be found at www.recalls.gov.au.

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