Wal-Mart Settles Suit Over Halogen Lamp Fire

A San Diego family reached an $11-million settlement with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and an Arkansas importer over a fire that apparently started when a halogen lightbulb exploded, leaving a 4-year-old girl severely burned.

Wal-Mart, which sold the lamp, and Cheyenne Industries Inc. of Little Rock, which imported it from China, denied in court documents that a product defect caused the fire. The settlement, reached Friday and disclosed to The Times on Monday by the family’s attorney, includes no admission of liability.

The settlement is among the largest ever for individual plaintiffs in a product-defect case; larger awards generally have come only through class-action suits.

The case may serve as a benchmark for several other personal-injury lawsuits involving halogen lamps, product liability experts say.

In 1997, 40 million halogen torchier floor lamps were recalled for repair by their makers in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The 6-foot-tall, free-standing lamps, with their bowl-shaped light fixtures mounted on top, burn at temperatures far hotter than those with regular bulbs and can ignite if they touch curtains, clothing or other flammable materials. The lamps have been blamed in at least 11 deaths and 189 fires nationwide since 1992.

“Clearly, it’s significant that they were willing to pay to settle this case,” said Alan Calnan, who teaches product liability law at Southwestern University’s law school. “It may not set a legal precedent, but it could very well set a practical one.”

Halogen lamps manufactured since February 1997 should have glass or wire shields that help prevent material from touching their bulbs. Some newer lamps have a gadget that shuts off electricity to the bulb if its temperature gets too high.

The lamp involved in the San Diego fire, however, was made before the changes took effect.

Glass shards from the exploding bulb set aflame the bedroom where the 4-year-old, Jazmin Boykin, lay sleeping, the 1998 lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court claimed.

The resulting blaze left the youngster with burns over more than half her body, including her arms, legs and hands, plaintiff’s attorney Duncan Coler said.

“She’ll need substantial plastic surgery,” Coler said. The settlement will pay for procedures to release scar tissue that prevents her hands from working properly, he said.

Boykin’s mother, Lisa Sikorski, suffered minor burns. Their home sustained significant damage.

“We had a very tragic case, and I think they made a business decision to limit their exposure,” Coler said.

Wal-Mart executives declined to comment Monday. Cheyenne’s attorney did not return phone calls.

Regardless of their age, halogen lamps should be treated with caution and kept away from flammable fabrics, Consumer Product Safety Commission officials say. Consumers should use bulbs of 300 watts or less and should never leave the lamps on when they leave a room.