http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/coleman_propane_heaters Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:00:33 -0800 pixel-app en http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12471 Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12471
Coleman, a division of Jarden Corporation, is one of the most popular brands of outdoor and camping equipment. The first suit against the company was filed on behalf of a 5-year-old boy who lost his parents and his sister to CO poisoning while they were sleeping this past May. The other was filed by a woman whose husband and father both died from carbon monoxide poisoning on a hunting trip in September. In both cases, the Coleman heater had been employed. (Coleman has discontinued production of the allegedly faulty model, but roughly 1 million of those heaters, or similarly designed ones, remain in use.)

Seattle attorney Jeffery Campiche, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, cited “Coleman's callous disregard of the carbon monoxide deaths.” “Humans cannot detect carbon monoxide,” he notes. “It is colorless, odorless and flavorless. If Coleman cared about the lives of the people who buy their products, they would recall their deadly heaters and snap on an ODS (oxygen depletion sensor). That simple fix would cost Coleman little and require minimal effort. Instead, their dangerous heaters have brought heartbreak to wives, husbands, parents, brothers, sisters, and children left to deal with unnecessary tragedy.”

Added plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Blue, “The dangers of CO poisoning have been well known for centuries. Oxygen Depletion Sensor technology has been in use for 50 years. If Coleman spent even a fraction of their marketing budget on making these heaters safe, lives would be saved.” Blue also claimed that “safe, alternative designs were available to Coleman that would have shut off the heaters before they produced fatal levels of carbon monoxide.”

Coleman has been facing an increasing amount of scrutiny over the propane heaters. In the small town of Packwood, Washington, seven people have died due to CO poisoning, including five last year, and each of the victims had used a Coleman heater. Families of the Packwood victims have sent a letter to the Consumer Safety Protection Commission asking for a mandatory recall of the products.

Coleman has already reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed on behalf of two victims from Packwood, although terms of that settlement are not known.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12514 Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12514
The families of five people who were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning while camping in southwestern Washington's Lewis County this year say the bright orange labels weren't enough to prevent the deaths. In two federal lawsuits filed Thursday, they argued that the labels aren't clear about what "well-ventilated" means and that simple manufacturing changes could have saved the lives of their loved ones and at least 75 other people who have died using Coleman heaters around the country.

In one case, Mari Daniel, of Puyallup, is suing for wrongful death after her husband and father were killed during a hunting trip Sept. 15. They were using a Coleman 5045 PowerMate heater to warm the 28-foot trailer they were sleeping in; they had windows open while the heater was on, Campiche said. A third member of the hunting party survived.

In the other case, the guardian of 5-year-old Cody Ongpituk is suing because his father, mother and 13-year-old sister died in May after using the same model heater in the panel truck where they sometimes slept. The Ongpituks, of Seattle, were staying in Lewis County to sell their Thai food during a Memorial Day festival.

Coleman, based in Wichita, Kan., is a subsidiary of Jarden Corp. They declined to comment on the lawsuits.

Coleman no longer sells the model at issue in the lawsuits, but an estimated 1 million similarly designed Coleman heaters remain in use worldwide. The heaters have been manufactured since 1984; a precursor to the PowerMate model was called "Focus."

In West Palm Beach, Fla., a jury awarded $10 million to the family of an electrician and his stepson who died in 1999 when a Coleman Focus heater filled their camping tent with carbon monoxide.

Another couple died while camping in Lewis County in 2000 when their tent filled with carbon monoxide. Coleman settled that case for an undisclosed sum.

The two lawsuits seek damages for pain and suffering and lost wages, as well as punitive damages against Coleman.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/coleman_propane_heaters Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/coleman_propane_heaters Coleman Heaters Linked to Carbon Monoxide Deaths Coleman heaters have recently been linked to carbon monoxide deaths. Based upon two lawsuits filed on December 14, 2006, the Coleman PowerMate 5045 propane heater is the main culprit that lead to the death of five people. The Coleman PowerMate 5045 heaters produce carbon monoxide, and more than a million of the dangerous heaters sold by Coleman remain in use by the public worldwide.

Coleman, purchased by Jarden Corporation in 1998, is the leading name in outdoor camping equipment, stoves, lanterns and heaters. Between 1984 and 2004, Coleman sold more than a million propane tank top heaters without oxygen depletion sensors or CO safety devices, claiming at least 75 lives nationwide. From 1984-1996, Coleman sold the propane-heating units under the name Focus heaters, and marketed them primarily to campers. In 1996, Coleman upgraded the BTU output capability of some of the heaters, named PowerMates, and marketed them as industrial heaters.

On June 29, 2005, a federal jury in Miami ordered Coleman Company to pay a Lake Worth, Florida, woman $10.1 million in damages in connection with a malfunctioning propane heater that killed her husband and son in 1999. The plaintiff’s family was on a hunting and camping trip, where they used the Coleman heater in their tent while they slept. As a result the malfunctioned heater filled the tent with carbon monoxide. A Washington State couple died in 2000 after using an earlier model Coleman heater in their tent; their families sued and reached a confidential settlement with Coleman in that case.

If you or a loved one suffered a wrongful death as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning from a defective Coleman heater, contact Parker & Waichman, LLP today for a free case consultation. Please complete a case evaluation inquiry on this webpage, or call 1-800-LAW-INFO (1-800-529-4636) to speak with an attorney today.]]>