"I think you saved our lives:" Local couple thankful to Contact 6 for dehumidifier recall alert
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- It is a product that you may have in your home -- and it could be dangerous. One local couple didn't know they had hazardous items in their basement until learning of a recall alert issued by FOX6's Contact 6.
Earlier this year, a faulty dehumidifier was blamed for a fire in Appleton.
"We heard the smoke alarms going off. I tried to look through the window. It was completely black," Lt. Lee Kasten with the Appleton Fire Department said.
Gree Electric Appliances -- a Chinese manufacturer, has recalled about 2.5 million dehumidifiers sold under various brand names in the U.S. and Canada.
Even though the recall happened over a year ago, many of the dehumidifiers are still in people's homes.
"Had we not seen that, we probably would have been part of the story if we were here to tell it," Sue Schneider said.
Schneider heard about the recall after seeing Contact 6's warning and told her husband Mike about it immediately.
"I went on the internet. I checked it. I looked at the numbers on the back and sure enough it said it was defective," Mike Schneider said.
The Schneiders followed instructions they found on FOX6Now.com.
"If you have one of these, immediately turn it off and unplug. So that's what we did and when we got to the second one, Mike said 'oh my goodness. This one is so hot I can't even touch it,'" Sue Schneider said.
"I know they get hot because it generates heat while it's doing work, but I could not put my hand on it. So, it was really, really hot," Mike Schneider said.
After filling out the paperwork, the couple received a packet in the mail and are in the process of getting a refund from Gree. But had they not checked their dehumidifiers, there could have been a different outcome.
"It's only a matter of a blip of information that you miss that it could have been a tragic story," Mike Schneider said.
"We could have had a fire -- possibly that night, so I think you saved our lives," Sue Schneider said.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Gree Dehumidifier Recall.
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