Xbox suspected as cause of fire

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Buyer Beware: Older Xbox Systems Can Spark Fires
Older Gaming Systems Still On Sale Second-Hand On Internet

Rob Johnson
Reporting

(CBS) Richard and Lori Steckler woke up to a fire in their Hollywood, Fla. apartment three years ago. Richard Steckler says that night he was playing videogames on a Microsoft Xbox system and fell asleep without turning it off.

"I woke up to this really bad smell. I saw black smoke with flames coming out of the black smoke," said Richard Steckler.

What was the cause of the blaze?

"The XBox. I was scared. I was absolutely petrified," Richard Steckler said.

Last year, after hearing dozens of complaints about alleged fires and over-heating problems, Microsoft replaced the power cords on some 14 million older Xbox systems made before October 23, 2003.

But the company's warning came too late for the Stecklers.

"They recalled 14 million power cords, after the fact. Unfortunately, it was too late," said Michael Feiner, the Stecklers's attorney.

The Stecklers filed suit against Microsoft in July, charging it marketed a defective product, knew about overheating problems and failed to warn its customers

Microsoft says the problem only affected fewer than one out of 10,000 older Xbox systems.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says since the older Xbox power cords were replaced they have heard no new reports of fires.

Some critics insist just replacing the power cord has not really fixed the overheating problem at all.

"Kids leave these on, they walk away, they come back, they might go to bed. They don't turn it off. These are all situations where you are leaving a product to really work beyond what it was meant to do," said Julie Vallesse of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

There are newer, more powerful game systems now hitting the market.

But there are hundreds of older Xboxes still selling all around the Internet, for about $150.

Federal officials are now worried a whole new generation of video gamers, unable to afford the latest, greatest hi-tech videogames could be buying older Xboxes with the original power cords still not replaced.

"We lost everything. …I lost my wedding dress, we lost out photo album. All the memories, I mean you can't replace our memories," said Lori Steckler. "You can't replace all that and I think that's what hurts the worst."

So if you're shopping for a pre-owned Xbox this holiday season, be sure to ask if it has Microsoft's' new replacement power cord.

Federal safety officials are warning all videogame systems need to be used with proper ventilation and turned off when you're done playing them.

A spokesperson for Microsoft had this to say about the report: "We sympathize with this family’s loss. This case is not resolved and is still pending. There is absolutely no basis to believe that the Xbox caused the fire involved. This matter involves a fire from 2003. At the time of the fire, the insurance company investigator determined the fire was caused by a different appliance. In sworn testimony, both plaintiffs testified they did not witness the fire start and no evidence of the Xbox allegedly involved was preserved.

"The safety of our products is of utmost concern and therefore the Xbox was rigorously tested and meets all applicable safety standards. To date there have been more than 24 million original Xbox consoles sold. A very small number of lawsuits have been filed alleging overheating issues with the original Xbox. Four of these suits have been voluntarily dismissed at the plaintiffs’ request and Microsoft has paid no money in these cases.

"We voluntarily established a power cord replacement program in February 2005 to address rare electrical component failures experienced in fewer than one in 10,000 consoles. It’s important to note that the Consumer Product Safety Commission determined that the issues that were addressed by this program did not rise to a level necessary to require us to take any action."

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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If you're going to leave your big videogame systems plugged in, you might consider using a
power strip with smoke detecting automatic shutoff. Check the cords, too.