Sadly, there have been numerous incidents over the last few years of cans of aerosol cooking spray—such as the PAM brand of cooking spray—exploding without notice and causing horrendous injuries.
These fireball explosions can happen without notice, and without misuse of the product. Innocent consumers have suffered burns to their face, neck and hands, bodily scars, and lifelong impairments because of these defective products.
If you’re a victim of a cooking spray can explosion, read further about the types of claims you could bring alongside an experienced product liability attorney to recover some of your damages and compensation for your injuries. You can also consult our series of articles on the explosions, from why a design defect could be to blame, to the types of other cases that have happened across the country. If you’ve suffered injuries, these other stories could echo your own experience of the hidden dangers of these common kitchen items.
A Defective Design Flaw is the Root Cause of the Explosions.
There have been multiple reports of cases involving a cooking spray can exploding without warning, causing serious injury to those in the vicinity of the can. Naturally, there have also been investigations into the cause of the explosions, as well as expert investigations as part of lawsuits. Here’s what they found:
Scientific experts concluded that vents at the bottom of the cans were the cause of the spontaneous explosions. These vents erroneously released cold, low-pressure air that was extremely flammable. When these cans were left near heat (like a stove where the items were used for cooking), or fell into a cooking pan, the explosions happened almost immediately. The explosions were essentially fireballs, exploding in the face of these unsuspecting victims.
We’ve written a detailed overview of the design defect that caused these explosions to occur, which you can read here.
But if you’ve already suffered injuries from a cooking spray can explosion, here’s what you need to know to determine if a product liability lawsuit is right for you.
Why This Design Defect Matters for Your Legal Claim.
If you’ve been injured by an exploded cooking spray can, it’s important to your case that these explosions were caused by a likely design defect. That’s because we have laws in the United States that protect consumers against unsafe products. It’s too often that manufacturers of products like these cooking sprays are more interested in making their profits than making a product safe for your consumer use.
For that reason, there are consumer protection laws, at both the state level and the federal level, that protect buyers of consumer products like you. These laws, simply put, state that any products that are on sale to consumers (whether in stores or online) must be safe for ordinary use. These laws hold manufacturers of defective products and distributors of defective products liable for any injuries or damages caused by them.
How Our Team Can Help Your Case.
If you’ve been injured or damaged by an exploding can of cooking spray, you can—and should—pursue a claim for justice to be compensated for your injuries. And hiring an experienced attorney can elevate your chances of success exponentially.
Our team of product liability attorneys will immediately investigate your case thoroughly, from the facts to witness testimony, to start building your claim. We can also enlist scientific, industry and medical experts to analyze those facts to help support our claim that it was the manufacturer’s defect that caused your injuries. Finally, we’ll present this information to the manufacturer of the defective aerosol spray cans so that they can respond with a fair settlement to cover the costs of your injuries, damages and suffering.
And, of course, our team of attorneys is here to see your case through trial to prove that the product was defective, that the manufacturer should have been aware of these cooking cans’ potential for danger, and that they should be held accountable for your injuries.
If you’ve been the victim of an exploding cooking spray can, we’re here to help with any questions you have about your path forward.
Colorado
- Two line cooks at a steak grill restaurant were severely injured and hospitalized when a can of cooking spray exploded near the stove
New Jersey
- A local woman left a cooking spray can near one of the stove burners in her home, and when it violently exploded she suffered second and third-degree burns to her face
Connecticut
- A cooking spray can near the oven exploded without warning, causing a flash fire across the kitchen
- The fire left a victim with third-degree burns to his face, chest and arms
Pennsylvania
- A woman in Pennsylvania says that she was cooking in her home when she accidentally dropped a can of aerosol cooking spray into the pan on the stove.
- The can exploded immediately, and the force of the explosion spewed hot grease across the kitchen and her body
Ohio
- Perhaps the worst known injury from these dangerous cooking cans is to an Ohio woman, who was almost killed by an exploding can of cooking spray.
- The woman was cooking at the stove when the spray can combusted without warning.
- She suffered terrible burns to the entirety of her upper body, including her face, chest and her arms.
- After the accident, the woman said that all she could remember was placing her fork in the pan, then the explosion occurred the next moment, and she was “on fire.”