6 Deaths Reported In Bathrobe Recall Triggered By KIRO 7

Six people have died in fires involving a bathrobe that was recalled for fire safety reasons, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.

The recall was ordered in April after a KIRO 7 Consumer Investigation reported several cases of the women’s full-length chenille robes made by Blair catching fire.

Since the recall, Blair has received reports of six deaths blamed on the robes. Five of the six victims were female, and all five were cooking at the time of the incidents. Three of the victims were in their 80s, the CPSC said.

In the original investigation, Consumer Investigator Amy Clancy interviewed a Tenino woman, Patti Bingham, whose Blair cotton chenille bathrobe caught fire. Blair told KIRO 7 Consumer Investigators at the time that the bathrobe passed federal flammability standards with ease, though the company had received reports of the robes catching on fire.

VIDEO: Tenino Woman's Recalled Robe Caught On Fire

Days after Clancy’s story aired, an investigator with the CPSC interviewed the same woman, and in April, warned consumers to stop wearing the robes immediately and return them to Blair for a full refund.

Following the recall of the 162,000 bathrobes deemed a fire hazard, Blair released the following statement:

"The recall announced today is a direct result of the incident which KIRO TV and Mrs. Bingham brought to our attention. Even though we had passing flammability tests from accredited overseas labs for each lot of the chenille robes which we imported, concern for our customers prompted us to have robes from our current stock tested at domestic laboratories. When those tests showed that a number of the robes failed to meet federal flammability standards, we immediately contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission, shared the test results, and entered into a voluntary recall. We owed that to our customers."

For more information on which bathrobes are being recalled, and how to get a refund, see the Blair Web site.

Previous Stories: March 6, 2009: Fire Safety Standards No Guarantee You Won't Get Burned April 27, 2009: KIRO 7 Story Triggers Nationwide Recall Of Bathrobes