A Winnipeg woman says she never imagined that her dog could start a fire in her stove, but now she is warning the public that is what happened, and says she did not discover that a safety withdrawal had been issued for her device until after the fire.
Michelle Burkowski had new Samsung appliances, including a range, installed in May 2024, and says that I was initially very satisfied with them.
But one day in May 2025, he arrived home to find his house full of smoke and a burning fire in the field.
“I ran to the kitchen to see the dog, and that was when I noticed that there was a flame book about the stove. And, of course, I shouldn’t have left the book on the stove,” he said in an interview.
She put the fire and made sure her dog, Buster, was fine.
It was then that he realized that Buster must have jumped and ignited one of the knobs for an element of stove, that they were at the front of the device.
When he told some friends what happened, they told him that Samsung made covers for the knobs to avoid involuntarily turning on.
“I began to investigate a little about it. That’s when I connected and I saw that Samsung really had a retirement for this exact problem,” Burkowski said.
Health Canada issued a security withdrawal alert in August 2024 for certain Samsung electrical ranges due to a fire danger, noting that both people and pets could “accidentally activate the knobs mounted on the front in the ranges.”
The notice says that the owners must communicate with Samsung Canada to obtain a free set of locks or knob covers. He also says that people with ranges for Wi-Fi can activate notifications in a Samsung application to receive alerts when a burnt of the pinch is lit.
Burkowski says that after the fire of the stove, she removed the knobs of her Samsung mountain range to prevent the dog from accidentally igniting the elements.
Second fire after the oven on
But that was not the only fire I had with the device.
Approximately a month later, while I was at work, there was a second fire, after he believes that the dog somehow activated the oven switch.
She said she had left some dry products, fried potatoes or salty cookies, in the oven that caught fire.
“It is easy for people to judge and say that I shouldn’t have done that … and I understand, I understand that I shouldn’t have done that, in retrospect,” he said, but puts some items in the oven to keep them away from their dog and cat.
“I was completely surprised. I never thought of a million years that a dog could light the oven,” Burkowski said.
“I love Buster, he is a great dog, but since he is not the smartest dog … then, in my head, I shouldn’t be able to light an oven that way, simply jumping on him. And if he can do that, then certainly a child can.”
In a June 2024 case highlighted by the Fire Department in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a dog put its feet on the front of a range of kitchen and lit a fire.
A home security video published by the Fire Department shows boxes in the stove that caught fire.
Look | The dog starts on fire on the stove:
The Springs Colorado Fire Department published a video in 2024 of a fire that started when a dog put its legs on a stove and ignited an element, causing the boxes in the stove to get caught fire. A spokesman for the Fire Department of the West of the United States says that the fire was extinguished and that the owner was treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation.
Ashley Franco, spokesman for the Fire Department of Colorado Springs, said the owner provided the video to help warn others on the subject.
“Kitchen fires are one of the main causes of fires in Colorado Springs, and many of them are due to people who leave their stove with food or even flammable objects,” he told CBC in an email.
People who have pets or children should think about which appliances would be safer for their situation, he said, suggesting that the models of stoves with knobs in the back would be a better option.
250 fires, 40 lesions reported in the US.
The withdrawal of Health Canada Samsung in August 2024 took place two weeks after the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a retirement notice, which involved approximately 1.1. Millions of Samsung units sold since 2013.
Samsung had received more than 300 reports of “unintentional activation of the knobs mounted on the human or pets front,” resulting in 250 fires, at least 18 of which “caused damage to extensive property”, and 40 injuries, according to the United States commission notice.
Health Canada says that at the end of July 2025, he had received 110 involuntary activation reports of rank elements involving the ranges of Samsung retired, which is believed to be due to control knobs that are activated too easily. Among the 110 reports, Health Canada says that 62 mentioned a fire and four involved an injury.
At the time of retirement, Health Canada said Samsung reported that around 326,250 of the ranges had been sold in Canada between 2013 and August 2024.
Look | The owner says that the dog began 2 kitchen fires when turning the range:
A Winnipeg woman says she never imagined that her dog could start a fire in her stove, but now she is warning the public that this is just what happened, and says she did not discover that a safety retreat had been issued for her device until it was too late.
A Samsung spokesman declined to comment, but in a statement at the time of 2024 retirement, Samsung Electronics Canada acknowledged “a fire danger if flammable objects are left above the range.”
The statement said that Samsung Canada would provide customers with a set of free or covered knob locks, to prevent the range from being accidentally ignited.
Burkowski says he requested a set of knob covers after finding out about the retirement. A package was sent and delivered, but when he came home, he left, he said, which led her to believe she was stolen.
Samsung told him that he couldn’t order another game of knob covers, he said.
He also said he does not know why he did not receive a notification about security withdrawal when it was issued in 2024. He did not register his purchase of the range with Samsung, he said.
But the executive director of the Consumer Council of Canada, Ken Whitehurst, says that some people care about privacy and what will happen with their information and personal data when they register with a manufacturer.
He thinks there could be many more proactive registration systems for products that are under guarantee.
“At least with the main appliances, sellers, retailers, they actually have all [buyer’s] information. They have it for delivery and all kinds of things, “he said.
“Perhaps it should be a legal requirement that simply register the sale so that the consumer is informed if there is a product security problem. Why is consumer responsibility?”
In addition to Samsung’s ranges, Health Canada also issued a retreat notice earlier this year for certain LG electrical ranges models, warning that the knobs mounted on the front in these models could also be activated by accidental contact of humans or pets.
LG Electronics Canada said on a notice on its website that in cooperation with Health Canada, I was voluntary retreat of certain ranges with knobs mounted on the first.
The notice said that people with affected models must communicate directly with LG to obtain a free warning label, which “reminds consumers who use the lg lock/locking function to disable the activation of heating elements when the range is not in use.”
