Home Depot Ceiling Fans Recalled After Blades Detach, Injuring People, While In Use

Home Depot is recalling more than 19,000 ceiling fans after reports that the fan’s blades can detach, fly off and cause “injury or property damage” while in use.

The product in question is the King of Fans Hampton Bay 54 inch Mara Indoor/Outdoor fan, according to NBC News. Of course, if you’re about to look up and check to see if you have the same fans installed at your house, make sure you turn it off first.

The company says it has received 47 reports of blades detaching from the fan, “including two reports of the fan blade hitting a consumer and four reports of the blade causing property damage”.

#Recall: Hampton Bay 54-inch Mara Indoor/Outdoor Ceiling Fans. Blades can detach while in use, posing an injury hazard. Get replacement. CONTACT: 866-443-1291, MaraRecall@kingoffans.com, or https://t.co/7JpA5LbS3Z. Full recall notice: https://t.co/bpKY0Of1mS pic.twitter.com/wn95trBbgF

— US Consumer Product Safety Commission (@USCPSC) December 23, 2020

The King of Fans said that the decision to recall the fans is voluntary and in cooperation with U.S. and Canadian regulatory agencies. 

The company said in a statement: “The Hampton Bay 54 in. Mara Indoor/Outdoor ceiling fans are being voluntarily recalled in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada. There have been consumer reports that the fan blades on the Hampton Bay 54 in. Mara Indoor/Outdoor Ceiling Fan may detach due to an isolated manufacturing defect with the assembly of the fan blade’s locking clip to the fan flywheel, where one of the two screws retaining the locking clip is not adequately secured to the flywheel. If this occurs, the blade may detach from the fan during use, posing an injury hazard.”

“On behalf of King of Fans and The Home Depot, we apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused you. We take pride in the quality of our products, and the safety of our customers is our priority,” the notice continues – because “sorry we’ve decapitated your and/or your family members” doesn’t quite have a great ring to it.

The fans were sold exclusively at Home Depot and online from April to October, the article notes. There were about 182,000 fans in the U.S. and 8,800 in Canada in total. Home Depot says about 80,000 of the fans were sold.

“We’re committed to the safety and quality of our products so we contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission and voluntarily recalled the product and stopped sales when we discovered the issue,” the retailer said.