Local family warns of potential danger after glass oven door spontaneously explodes

PLUM, Pa. — It certainly sounds like a kitchen nightmare. Imagine the glass on the front of your oven door spontaneously exploding, even if the appliance hadn’t been used in hours, or even days.

One after another, over the past few years there have been consumer reports nationwide of Frigidaire oven doors shattering unexpectedly.

It happened recently to one family in Plum, and they want others to be aware of the potential danger.

For Geoff and Molly Paschel, Waverly, 3, and baby Randy, family time is centered in the kitchen.

“You’re usually dodging a walker or toys or a stool or a kid. It’s pretty much chaos,” said Geoff.

Geoff had just finished making lunch and was cleaning up when the completely unexpected happened.

“All of a sudden, we heard basically an explosion,“said Geoff.

When Geoff turned around, he saw shards of glass covering the kitchen floor right where Randy usually rolls through barefoot in his walker.

“I was just in such relief that my kids weren’t anywhere near it, and he wasn’t hurt at all,” said mom, Molly.

Molly’s relief turned to disbelief when she realized Geoff hadn’t used the oven for lunch. It was completely cold.

“Exploding oven glass wasn’t even on my bingo card. That’s like right up there with murder hornets. Who would ever expect that to happen, especially in your home.”

Since 2011 safety records filed with the Consumer Product Safety Commission have shown more than 214 complaints about the glass made to Frigidaire or its parent company, Electrolux.

Molly and Geoff say the Frigidaire came with their home, which they purchased in 2019, so Molly reached out to the company to figure out what to do next.

The first customer service number brought no answers. After spending several hours on the phone, Molly finally talked to a customer service agent. After telling the customer service agent that the oven glass exploded out of “nowhere” the customer service agent told her she could order replacement glass, but then advised her the glass was on backorder.

Ultimately, the Paschels found replacement glass at a local appliance store, and Geoff fixed it himself.

They know the appliance was out of warranty, but they want to make sure other families know this could happen.

“It could spontaneously explode and if you have kids running around the house you don’t want ‘em near when it happens, “said Geoff.

Parent company Electrolux has acknowledged that the glass may break, but said it does not happen very often. The company says in these instances, something could have accidentally hit the glass, causing a weakness that could, over time, lead to the glass shattering. Electrolux also says it is always working to improve its products.

Despite the number of complaints involving Frigidaire ovens, the appliance is not listed on the Consumer Product Safety Commissions recall website.

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