A Winnipeg woman said her dog inadvertently started two separate kitchen fires in her West End home – one of which could have burned it down. She believes a faulty oven design currently under a Health Canada recall is partly to blame. Michelle Burkowski said her dog Buster- a rescue pup a little over one year old – started the first fire in May after he accidentally turned on her brand new Samsung electric range, igniting a book she forgot was sitting on top. “Luckily, I came home just after it caught fire and I was able to put it out,” she said. “That’s when I realized that my dog Buster was able to turn the elements on just by jumping on it.” She said the knobs to turn on the elements are on the front of the stove - easily accessible to a curious pup. It was only after the fire she learned her unit was the subject of a Health Canada recall on a series of Samsung slide-in electric ranges. “Humans and pets can accidentally activate the front-mounted knobs on the ranges, posing a fire hazard,” reads the recall – issued in August 2024. At the time, it said Samsung had received over 57 reports of incidents in Canada, seven of which resulted in injuries. As a fix, Samsung offered free knob locks and covers to customers – one set per unit. Burkowski said she immediately contacted the company and requested her set, but the package never arrived. “I think they were actually stolen off the porch, because Canada Post said they were delivered, but they just weren’t here when I got home,” she said. Despite this, Burkowski said Samsung wouldn’t give her another set, telling here there is no option to request or even purchase another set of locks. So she had to make her own fix, removing the knobs completely from the range. “That way Buster can’t actually get at it, which I thought would be fine for solving the fire problem,” she said. But she was wrong. A month after the first fire, Burkowski said flames ignited inside her oven. “The fire department told me directly, if they hadn’t got there when they did, I would have lost my house,” she said. Burkowski believes the culprits – once again – are Buster and a design flaw. “(Buster) is not the Littlest Hobo – he shouldn’t be able to turn the oven on. That’s the bottom line.” she said. While she does have a bit of smoke damage, most of her kitchen escaped the flames undamaged. Her new oven, on the other hand, is ruined. Despite the damage, Burkowski still said Buster is a ‘good boy.’ However, she is less-than-pleased with Samsung’s response. “If I am forced to go out and buy a new stove, I can’t support Samsung at this point,” she said. “There’s no way they’re going to get my money again. I’ll go with someone else who wants my business.” CTV News reached out to Samsung for comment but has not yet heard back. In a news release at the time of the recall, the company said its range knobs meet industry safety standards including a two-step ‘push and turn’ activation. “Consumers should always be mindful of accidental activation and never leave anything on their range top surface when it is not in use,” the company said.
