Six deaths spur reissue of Blair robe recall

The deaths of six people prompted federal safety officials and clothing retailer Blair to reissue a recall Thursday of 162,000 full-length chenille robes because the garments don’t meet federal flammability requirements and can catch fire if they are exposed to an open flame.

Blair of Warren, Pa., and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled the women’s chenille robes in April because of the fire hazard.

Since then, the company heard from families of six people who died after their Blair robes caught fire, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said.

News of the deaths caused Blair and the commission to again alert consumers about the recall of the company’s chenille robes, Wolfson said.

Consumers are urged to immediately stop wearing the robes and return them to Blair for a $50 gift card, he said.

Of the six deaths reported to Blair as related to the burning robes, five of the victims were women who were cooking at the time and the sixth was a man wearing his spouse’s robe, Wolfson said. Three of the victims were in their 80s, and the deaths all took place before April, he said.

The original April recall was issued voluntarily by the commission and Blair after the company received three reports of the robes catching fire, including one incident that left a victim with second-degree burns, Wolfson said.

Blair sent letters to customers warning of the recall, the commission said.

A label in the robes reads “100% Cotton, RN 81700, Made in Pakistan,” the commission’s recall statement said. The robes also have labels with item numbers 3093111, 3093112, 3093113, 3093114, 3093115 or 3093116.

The one-piece robe has seven buttons, a shaped stand-up collar and two side-seam pockets, the statement said.

Blair’s catalogs, website and stores in Warren, Pa.; Grove City, Pa.; and Wilmington, Del., sold the robes from January 2003 to March 2009, the commission said.

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nathan.olivarezgiles@latimes.com