Coroner urges 1.6 million tumble dryers to be pulled after blaze that killed father and daughter

A coroner has sounded the alarm on the safety of a popular tumble dryer, after a blaze killed a father and daughter.

On 8 June 2025, a fire broke out at 34 Russell Close, Heckmondwike in West Yorkshire. A neighbour became aware of smoke billowing from the house at about 6.06am.

Firefighters arrived at the scene just 13 minutes later and found Sohaib Ahmed, 38, unresponsive behind the front door. Despite efforts by paramedics to resuscitate Mr Ahmed, he was pronounced dead at 7.02am.

His daughters were both rushed to hospital for treatment. One survived the incident after “extensive hospital treatment”, but Manahal, 9, later died of smoke inhalation.

A report conducted by HM Senior Coroner, Martin Fleming, written on 11 August, was released on Monday.

Coroner warns tumble dryer ‘likely’ source of fire

The report said that an inquest found that it was “more likely than not” that the source of the fire was a DX C10DCER-80 Hoover branded condenser tumble dryer located in the kitchen.

The “specific mechanism and circumstances” of the ignition remain unclear.

“The above raises concerns that unless the model… and any wider product safety implications are further examined, circumstances creating a risk of future deaths may continue,” Mr Flemming said.

“It is my understanding that the Office for Product & Safety Standards (OPSS) has received a significant number of product fire notifications from the fire services across the UK involving this model.”

‘Serious mechanism failure’

Mr Flemming raised concerns that 1.6 million of current Hoover & Candy branded condenser or vented tumble dryers may share this model’s characteristics. He also cites two experts who describe how the particular model of tumble dryer may “burn almost completely once the fire becomes established”.

This makes identifying a potential defect “very difficult”, the report warns.

Mr Fleming found that it could not be determined whether the ignition resulted from tracking, defective solder joint, heater relay failure or another internal electrical failure.

This left him concerned that “this may indicate a potentially serious mechanism failure that cannot be identified from available evidence, and therefore cannot be readily prevented”.

He wants the company to consider investigating the model and similar incidents “with a view to identifying any recurrent failure modes, alteration to the design, issue of technical service bulletins or a recall or safety campaign”.

Mr Flemming also urged the company to “consider whether it is appropriate that the sales of the model be halted” pending this analysis.