‘It is scary’: New Brunswick woman’s thermostat catches fire

New Brunswick Fire officials are warning residents to check their thermostats after a unit caught fire Tuesday morning at a home in Riverview.

“We had just replaced all of them in the house for better heating in the winter and then that happened. I can’t believe it,” said Juanita Poirier.

Poirier said she was shocked to discover the newly replaced thermostat in the bathroom of her home overheated and caught fire shortly before dawn.

 “It’s really scary,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter:  "It's really scary," she said.

Poirier said her husband had recently replaced all of the thermostats in their home in hopes of saving money on their powers bills.  She never expected one of the units would catch fire.

“If my husband had not gotten up and seen it, it probably would have caught in the walls and burnt my house down.”

READ MORE: N.B. Fire Marshal asks residents to check homes for recalled thermostats

According to the Government of Canada website, a recall on certain brands and models of thermostats issued in 2011 was expanded on May 2nd to include more models.

Deputy fire chief Mitch Short of the Riverview Fire Deparment said some people may not even be aware they could be included in that recall if they had not registered their units after purchase.

“That will allow the manufacturer to track you in case there is a recall and they can notify you of that,” Short said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "That will allow the manufacturer to track you in case there is a recall and they can notify you of that," Short said.

He is warning residents to check to see what type of thermostats they have in their homes and compared it to the updated recall list.  The recalled units may overheat and pose a fire hazard.

Short said Poirier’s unit was not on his recall list and following his inspection of the unit this morning, he said it appeared to have been installed correctly.

“There is good sized marettes and everything is clear and I don’t see anything wrong with this installation,” said Short

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There is good sized marettes and everything is clear and I don't see anything wrong with this installation," said Short

Short plans to send the unit to the Canadian Standards Association for internal testing to see if it should be added to the recall list.

He said the fire was confined to inside the metal wire housing, which prevented it from spreading through the walls, so his department was not called to the fire.

READ MORE: Halifax Fire warning homeowners to check for recalled thermostats

“Fortunately there wasn’t anything as far as combustibles underneath it,” he said.

But Poirier is still pretty shaken up from the experience.

“What if someone is home babysitting their kids and they don’t know that their thermostat is going to catch on fire, it is scary,” she said.

Short said people who change out their thermostats should register the units online before they install them, that way the company will notify them in the event of a recall.

The Government of Canada’s original thermostat recall was issued back in 2011 but has already been expanded three times.