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[UPDATE] December 13, 2019— On Friday, December 6, 2019, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a press release and formal recall based on the ongoing issue detailed below. This is not a new or expanded recall, despite the recall date published. During this past year, WilliamsRDM has been working with its StoveTop FireStop^® customers and the CPSC to return and replace all products affected by this recall.

November 12, 2018

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — WilliamsRDM, Inc. (www.williamsrdm.com), the designer and manufacturer of StoveTop FireStop^® (www.stfs.com) automatic cooktop fire suppressors, has issued a limited recall on Rangehood (675-3D) and Microhood-White (677-2) products manufactured and shipped the week of November 7-November 13, 2016. All products manufactured and shipped prior to this timeframe or since are not affected.

WilliamsRDM was notified that one of its products did not perform as intended during a third-party demonstration. WilliamsRDM immediately conducted an internal investigation, which determined the issue potentially affect a limited number of STFS Rangehood and Microhood White products that used the component manufactured during the same timeframe as the ones used in the product which failed to deploy during the demonstration. STFS Microhood Black (677-1), STFS Plus^® (679-3A), STFS Plus Sensor (679-S-3A), and STFS Plus LC (679-LC-3A) were not affected.

WilliamsRDM has contacted its distribution partners to identify all customers who might have installed these products during that time frame. WilliamsRDM has pledged to replace these products with new products free of charge. A letter will be sent to every end-user who may have purchased the product manufactured during this time frame detailing instructions on how to properly identify the products and exchange them for new products. A web page has also been set up as a resource: http://www.stfs.com/recall/

Anyone with questions about products that were purchased and installed during this time should email the STFS customer Support Team at stfs@stovetopfirestop.com or call 888-616-7976.

About STFS:  The original automatic fire suppressor, StoveTop FireStop was first conceived in the early 1970’s.  Over the last 45 years, the brand has expanded into multiple countries, and has grown from a single product offering into a full line of fire suppression products to cover a wide variety of residential kitchen configurations.

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Fort Worth, Texas – WilliamsRDM, Inc., the inventors and manufacturers of StoveTop FireStop  (www.stfs.com) products since 1972, have released a sensor-based version of their residential fire suppression devices, called StoveTop FireStop Plus Sensor.  StoveTop FireStop has been the industry leader in automatic, easy to use, residential fire suppression devices for over four decades.  Their canister based fire suppressors can be found in nearly every multifamily housing market segment in North America, from senior to student housing, and from military barracks to public apartment buildings.

With the release of Plus Sensor, they have radically changed the way their product responds to grease fires.  Instead of requiring direct contact from a sustained flame to light a fuse, the embedded sensors monitor the stove 24 hours a day.  Each sensor is programmed to look for a specific “signature” that is unique to a grease fire, and through a complex set of algorithms, they compare their data sets continuously to determine if a fire is occurring.  Once a threat is determined to be an actual fire, the canister deploys its powder, snuffing out the threat.

“StoveTop FireStop has been saving lives and homes from unattended cooking fires for nearly 50 years, using a tried and true method.  But this changes everything.  The specificity of the sensors and the algorithms that control their decisions are truly amazing.  When you have a fire, every moment feels like an eternity.  That’s why we developed technology that could recognize a fire in seconds,” says Carter Shackelford, brand manager for WilliamsRDM.

Most traditional fire safety devices have distinct limitations: smoke detectors alert you to a fire, but cannot do anything about it.  Hand-held fire extinguishers require human intervention to be useful.  Fire sprinklers do a wonderful job saving lives, but often cause extensive damage to homes and personal possessions.  Only StoveTop FireStop can alert, suppress, and protect simultaneously and 100% automatically.

The StoveTop FireStop Plus Sensor is available to purchase directly from the manufacturer today, and will be rolled out to WilliamsRDM’s distributor network in the coming weeks. Visit our “Wholesale” page for product details and kitchen hood fire suppression system costs. 

About STFS:  The original automatic fire suppressor, StoveTop FireStop was first conceived in the early 1970’s.  Over the last 45 years, the brand has expanded into multiple countries, and has grown from a single product offering into a full line of fire suppression products to cover a wide variety of kitchen configurations.