Pressure Cooker Accidents

Accidental pressure cooker explosions have caused many people to suffer horrific injuries, burns, blindness, amputations, and even death.

Our law firm is currently filing cases Nationwide and would like to help you and your family if you have been the victim of an pressure cooker explosion.

Do I have a Pressure Cooker Explosion Lawsuit? If you or a loved one was injured or burned by a pressure cooker that exploded — even if the pressure cooker has not been recalled yet — you should contact our law firm immediately for a free case consultation. If you file a lawsuit, you could receive compensation for your injury, medical expenses, and more.

Pressure Cooker Accidents

Pressure cookers are extremely dangerous when they are used incorrectly or poorly made.

When the pot is sealed, pressure cookers can reach temperatures above 250ºF with a massive amount of pressure built-up inside. If the lid is not sealed perfectly, or if the pot is not strong enough to contain the pressure, it can explode.

• Burn injuries — The most common pressure cooker injury is a second-degree burn. When burn injuries cover a large percentage of a person’s body, it can lead to far more serious injuries, such as infection or amputation.
• Electrocutions — Pressure cookers have also been recalled for electrocution burns. This type of injury occurs when the electrical circuits contact with water, steam, or the heat melts the wires and creates a short-circuit. Electrocutions may also occur due to poor insulation materials.
• Spills & Explosions — Pressure cooker injuries may also occur from spills, usually due to a leaky seal, but also when users accidentally over-fill the pot. Explosions occur when the lid is opened too soon, or a leaky seal allows the content to blow out of the pot.

Source: Pressure Cooker Recall: The Dangers of Defective Pressure Cookers

Woman Blinded After Pressure Cooker Explodes in Face

September 2019 — A woman was blinded in her left eye after a pressure cooker exploded and its metal whistle hit her in the face. The full extent of her injuries was not known until a CT scan showed the bullet-sized whistle lodged in her skull after it shot out of the exploding pressure cooker. Click here to read more.

Pressure Cooker Explosion Severely Burns 9 Year-old Boy and Grandmother

January 2019 — A pressure cooker explosion caused severe burn injuries to a 9 year-old boy and his grandmother from Wynnewood, Oklahoma.

Source: 9-year-old severely burned after pressure cooker accident

Idaho Toddler Severely Burned in Pressure Cooker Explosion

October 2018 — A pressure cooker explosion caused severe burn injuries to a 2-year-old boy who was clinging to his mother’s leg as she was making a pot roast for dinner.

The accident occurred near Burley, Idaho. The boy, Chayse Bodily, suffered 2nd-degree burns over 14% of his body when a bubble exploded out of a pressure cooker and splattered him with boiling-hot liquid.

His mother said the pressure cooker indicated that the pot roast was done cooking, so she released the steam and removed the lid. Just before she added potatoes to the boiling pot, the liquid exploded:

“It just shot up like a geyser. I was in shock and I saw the baby slipping in it. I ran to the bathroom and I could see his skin coming off. The scariest thing you’ll ever see is the skin rolling off your baby’s body.”

The boy’s parents rushed him to the bathroom, took off his clothing, and poured cool water over his body. Chayse was airlifted to the University of Utah Burn Center and spent 12 days in the hospital.

Doctors still don’t know if he will develop scarring or need skin graft surgery. Medical bills continue to increase. For now, he must take regular pain medication and undergo wound care to change the dressings, which cause him extreme pain.

Source: Idaho toddler recovering after pressure cooker accident

Toddler Severely Burned in Pressure Cooker Accident

June 2018 — A 2-year-old girl was badly burned when a pressure cooker exploded as she was playing in the kitchen. Her nanny was also injured in the incident.

“She saw the cover of the pressure cooker detach and steam and boiling water splattering all over the nanny and Sheikha. … It looked like Sheikha’s flesh had melted. I can’t forget how she looked.”

Grandmother Left Covered in Blisters from Pressure Cooker Explosion

Sheila Kitchener, a 65 year-old grandmother, suffered horrific burn injuries when the lid of her Russell Hobbs pressure cooker blew off and “sent boiling hot potato flying onto her face.” She has blisters across her face, extensive burns on her shoulder, and eye injuries because she was wearing glasses. Click here to read more.

Image: The Sun Online

Pressure Cooker Accident Survivor Uses Make-Up Skills to Help Acid Attack Victims

April 2018 — A make-up artist who suffered 2nd-degree burns on her face after a pressure cooker accident is using her skills to help scarred survivors of acid attacks. Click here to read more.

(Image: BBC / Facebook)

TV Star: “Exploding Pressure Cooker Nearly Killed Me”

A businesswoman who starred on TV shows such as The Apprentice suffered disfiguring burns when a pressure cooker exploded and sprayed her with scalding-hot lentils. Click here to read more.

What is a Burn?

Pressure cookers can cause severe scalds, burns, and tissue damage. Hot liquids and steam can cause scalds, which are clouds of boiling-hot water vapor. Scalds and steam explosions are extremely dangerous because they can burn large sections of skin. Scalds are not usually very deep, but they are extremely painful because they damage the nerve endings in the skin.

Types of Burn Injuries

There are three levels of burn injuries:

• First-degree burns damage only the outer layer of skin
• Second-degree burns damage the outer layer and the layer underneath
• Third-degree burns damage or destroy the deepest layer of skin and tissues underneath

Symptoms & Complications of Burns

Minor burn injuries can cause symptoms like swelling, blistering, and scarring. The more severe burns, such as 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns, are more likely to cause a whole-body reaction called shock. Shock can lead to death as a result of a sudden drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness, and multi-organ system failure.

Burns can also damage the skin’s protective barrier against bacteria, which can lead to infections. Antibiotic creams can sometimes prevent serious infections after a burn, but for more serious burns, the wound will need to be cleaned out. The person may need surgery to transplant a healthy patch of skin onto the burned area. Skin graft surgery is extremely painful and often leaves a person with permanent scarring.

UPDATE: Toddler’s Leg Amputated After Burned by Pressure Cooker

A 2 year-old girl from Florida had to have her left leg amputated after suffering severe burns over 60% of her body when a pressure cooker exploded and overflowed at her grandmother’s house.

The girl, Samantha Gonzalez, was hospitalized at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for the treatment of 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns. Her grandmother was bathing the child in the sink on September 14, 2015 when the pressure cooker exploded steam and boiling-hot liquid.

Despite the doctors’ best efforts, she may need additional surgeries, including having some of her fingers or arms amputated. The family also said her kidneys and liver are failing as a result of her injuries.

Source: Toddler’s left leg amputated after burned by pressure cooker

Pressure Cooker Explosion Burns Man’s Face

Clark Bailey, 28, suffered 3rd-degree burns when he opened a pressure cooker too soon and it exploded hot foot into his face. When he forced open the lid, it hit him in the forehead. He was severely burned by boiling-hot water that landed on his face, arms and hands.

Bailey told The Daily Mail he was lucky his injuries were not permanent “Luckily I had my glasses on – otherwise I could have lost my sight. … It was my own silly fault. But it could have been a lot worse.”

Breville Pressure Cooker Explosion in Australia

On September 8, 2016, a mother suffered 2nd-degree burns over 10% of her body when her Breville pressure cooker exploded at her home in Australia.

The woman, Carizza Borderos, was cooking beef in her Breville Fast Slow Cooker (Model No. BPR200) when it suddenly exploded boiling-hot water, beef, and fat onto her arm and neck.

She drove herself to the emergency department and was hospitalized for 5 nights at Cairns Base Hospital. Her doctors were worried that her blisters and burned skin would become infected.

She required pain medication for 5 weeks and described the pain as “unbearable” when she had to change the dressings and remove dead skin underneath.

Afterward, Mrs. Borderos learned that her Breville Fast Slow Cooker had been recalled in 2015 due to the risk of an explosion. She says she never received a recall notice, despite registering her address when she bought it in 2013 — Mum left with second degree burns after pressure cooker explosion.

Pressure Cooker Nearly Blinds Woman

A woman from Ireland was nearly blinded when a pressure cooker exploded the first time she used it to make soup.

Rumer Priestly after the incident

The woman, 25 year-old Rumer Priestly of Greyabbey, said she used a wooden spoon to slide open the vent to release some of the pressure so she could add more ingredients. Instead, the lid blew off the top and exploded boiling-hot soup and steam all over her face and chest.

“It felt like someone had thrown acid in my face. I had no idea how dangerous they can be. If you have never used one before then don’t do so without first learning how they work. I have been lucky, but it was a narrow escape.”

She believes she would have been permanently blinded if she had not been wearing her glasses, and her choice of T-shirt likely saved her from being severely scarred on her chest. Her mother, Pamela, was in the other room when she heard a “big bang” and came rushing in to see what had happened. Pamela saw boiling liquid everywhere. She rushed her daughter to the emergency room at a hospital in Belfast.

— Exploding pressure cooker almost blinds Northern Ireland woman

Pressure Cooker Explosion Cuts Off Woman’s Leg

Other victims of pressure cooker explosions were not so lucky. In 2011, a 79 year-old woman in Miami, Florida almost bled to death when her pressure cooker blew up and cut off her leg.

The woman was cooking when the pressure cooker exploded and, sending boiling-hot food and metal shrapnel flying through the air. One piece of the cooker hit her in the leg above her ankle and caused a deep laceration that bled profusely.

She would have almost certainly bled to death were it not for a quick-thinking family member who tied a tourniquet above her wound. The tourniquet likely saved her life, but may have decreased circulation to the leg and caused tissue death that required amputation.

According to Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll, of Miami Fire Rescue, “Right now, we don’t know exactly what happened, but from what we are told, she was cooking, and for some unknown reason, the pressure cooker fell.”

Cafeteria Worker Airlifted to Hospital After Pressure Cooker Explodes

In August 2016, a 48 year-old cafeteria employee was severely burned by an exploding pressure cooker and airlifted to St. Barnabas Burn Center in Livingston, New Jersey. The woman was burned on her hand and arm when the pressure cooker’s lid dislodged and spewed hot rice throughout the cafeteria at Sri Venkateswara Temple in Bridgewater, New Jersey — Exploding pressure cooker burns cafeteria worker at Bridgewater temple.

Exploding Pressure Cooker Causes Death of Pregnant Woman in Spain

An exploding pressure cooker caused the death of a 36 year-old woman in Spain who was 5 months pregnant. The woman, Begoña Muñiz García, was preparing food for her husband and mother-in-law.

Medical officials said Mrs. García died almost immediately as a result of major head injuries. The force of the explosion also destroyed part of the building and shattered the windows. The broken kitchen windows fell from the 4th floor of their apartment to the street below.

The tragedy occurred on Severo Ochoa St. in the Pumarín neighborhood of the city of Gijón, Spain, where she was a teacher — A pregnant 5-month-old teacher dies when a pressure cooker explodes

Industrial Pressure Cooker Deaths

One of the most horrific deaths occurred in 2012, when a 62 year-old factory worker at named Jose Medina was trapped inside an industrial-sized pressure cooker with 12,000 pounds of tuna as he was cleaning it. Mr. Medina’s coworkers did not notice he was missing until 2 hours later. By the time his body was recovered, the 35 foot-long pressure cooker had reached temperatures of 270ºF. Bumble Bee Foods and 2 managers were charged in his death.

Do I have a Pressure Cooker Explosion Lawsuit?

The Product Liability Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new cases in all 50 states.

Free Pressure Cooker Explosion Lawsuit Evaluation: Again, if you or a loved one was injured or burned by any pressure cooker that exploded — even if that pressure cooker has not been recalled yet — you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a lawsuit, and our lawyers can help.