A homeowner in Cleveland, Ohio, is suing Rust-Oleum for $143,000 after oil-soaked rags she was using to stain her wood floors spontaneously combusted and caused a fire that destroyed her home last year, cleveland.com reported.
The federal lawsuit claims Vernon Hills, Ill.-based Rust-Oleum failed to provide a proper warning label on its Varathane Wood Stain product, which the homeowner was using to stain her floors in August 2022. The homeowner stored stain rags she’d used to apply the oil-based product in a container near the stairs, after which the rags spontaneously combusted, engulfing the home in flames and causing an estimated $225,000 in damages.
The product does have warning labels for consumers on its packaging, but the lawsuit argues the existing labels “do a poor job of alerting customers to the possibility of spontaneous combustion,” according to cleveland.com.
The lawsuit also includes The Home Depot, which the lawsuit claims was negligent in selling the product without additional warning.
