Urgent safety warning: Kmart pulls popular Christmas toy from shelves after catching on fire
A kids toy from Kmart, which was popular at Christmas, has been pulled from stores after several complaints it caught on fire.
Samantha Sholly went to Facebook Sunday night to warn parents after the charging cable for the ATV Madness remote control quad bike purchased as a gift for her 4-year-old son caught on fire.
“WARNING! If anyone has bought this ATV from Kmart, be very careful. We have had our charger catch on fire. LUCKY it was caught early!! (sic),” the mother warned online.
The Adelaide mother says her babies were just a few metres from the charging cable in their kitchen on Boxing Day.
Within two hours of the charging cable being plugged into an electric source, Samantha’s sister, Alexandra smelt something burning.
The surrounding rubber of the charging cable had begun melting after a small flame lit from it.
“It was pretty scary,” Ms Solly said to The Age. “I’m just lucky my sister caught it when she did.”
The Kmart quality teams said they were investigating claims its remote-controlled quad bike charger for the toy could be dangerous while charging.
Several images and warnings have been posted on social media showing charging components that have melted through after catching fire. However, a recall on the product has not been issued, despite concern from parents online.
A spokesperson told the ABC the decision to pull the popular toy from shelves was made on Thursday.
"At Kmart, we take the quality and safety of our products very seriously, which is why we made the decision to withdraw the remote-control quad bike from sale, pending investigation from our quality team," she said.
Any concerns regarding the product have been encouraged to contact the Kmart customer service team at 1800 124 125.