The Consumer Product Safety Commission has invoked its Section 12 "imminent hazard" authority — a power the agency hadn't used in nearly 40 years — to warn consumers to immediately stop using Lakkzoom immersion water heaters, citing what it described as numerous reports of fires.
Why regulators are calling this urgent
According to the CPSC, the portable immersion heaters can overheat and catch fire within minutes when they're energized while fully or partially outside of water — a use case the agency says is common with this style of product. Section 12 lets the commission seek immediate court relief against a product it considers an imminent hazard, bypassing the commission's standard, slower recall process. The agency says this is the first time it has used that authority in nearly four decades.
