A North Carolina house fire may have been caused by a hot tub that is linked to a recent string of recalls.
A house fire in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, originated “around the portable hot tub’s heater and water pump,” according to investigators with the Cary Fire Department. The fire broke out in early February and caused substantial damage to the structure. Although a person and two dogs were inside the home at the time of the fire, they all made it out unharmed.
“The flames started on the back patio and went all the way up the side of the house,” said Andrew Foret, the homeowner. Now, Foret says, the house will need to be “gutted.”
Shortly after the incident, Foret met with an investigator to determine the cause of the fire.
“At first he asked me, ‘What was back here in the corner? There was definitely something electric in the back, and it could’ve been something that started the fire,’” Foret remembered. “We said, ‘Well, it was a hot tub pump there, but it was running fine,’ and he said, ‘That hot tub pump could’ve been what caused it.’” Foret purchased his Saluspa Coronado Maxhold Series inflatable hot tub from Costco in November 2024. The spa came with an AirJet pump, manufactured by Bestway, a company that recently sold pumps that were later recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission due to dangers associated with fires.
According to the CPSC, in September 2024, nine models of the AirJet and HydroJet pumps manufactured by the Chinese-based company Bestway International Ltd. were recalled. “The recalled spa pumps can overheat causing the plastic housing to ignite, posing a fire hazard,” the
Recalled SaluSpa “Laguna” AirJet Inflatable Spa Fire
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CPSC states on its recall webpage.
Nearly 900 thousand total spa pumps were recalled, but it is believed that many still remain in consumer use.
According to the CPSC, “CPSC is aware of at least three fires reportedly involving the spa pumps, including one house fire that occurred in January 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri, which resulted in a fatality and one additional fire that resulted in significant property damage. No additional injuries have been reported. There are seven additional incidents reportedly involving the spa pumps, which are currently under investigation. At this time, no injuries have been reported with these additional incidents.”
It is not clear if the spa pump implicated in the Cary house fire was part of that recall because the model number was destroyed in the fire and Costco did not immediately respond to media inquiries.
However, the recalled pumps were on the market between May 2021 and May 2024. Foret purchased his hot tub six months later.
Costco sent a recall notice concerning the pump associated with the SaluSpa “Laguna” AirJet Inflatable Spa to affected consumers regarding the potentially dangerous pump on September 12, 2024, which the company stated were sold in Costco’s between October 2021 and April 2023.
Costco does not list a recall for the pump associated with the “Coronado” model, which was the model Foret purchased in 2024, may have been affected by the recall, and may have started the fire that nearly destroyed Foret’s home.
