News 6 gets results for family left homeless after fire sparked by dishwasher

Officials to inspect home Friday, GE dishwasher may have been recalled

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A family left homeless after a fire is seeking help after being told repairs couldn't begin at their home for up to eight weeks.

On July 11, Tara Zysset, her husband and two young children were forced from their condo on Ocaso Lane as smoke filled their first floor unit.

"I didn't see any flames, you could just smell the smoke and see the smoke," said Zysset.  "We literally ran out of there with the clothes on our backs."

The state fire marshal investigated a dishwasher as the cause of the fire.  Zysset since learned the appliance was part of a nationwide recall. 

"It looks like it was our GE dishwasher that has open recalls, which they say they're known to cause fires," she said.

The recall section of the manufacturer's website lists a voluntary recall issued in May 2012 for certain model dishwashers made between 2006 and 2008.

"GE is aware of 15 reports of dishwasher heating element failures, seven of which resulted in fire and smoke damage beyond the unit. No injuries have been reported," read a statement from GE.

Zysset said repairs couldn't be made to her home until an inspector from the company could examine her dishwasher, which could take up to eight weeks.

"We just want our house to be fixed and we want some answers, because they really don't know 100 percent when everything's going to be done," said Zysset.

In a search for answers, a GE spokesperson told News 6 they would soon be in direct contact with the homeowners and scheduled an inspector to visit the home Friday.

"The sooner the better, because we can't keep living day to day not knowing what's going to happen," said Zysset.

Meanwhile, other homeowners in the same subdivision have been contacted with information about what steps to take if a dishwasher affected by the recall is in their home.

For information on GE appliances affected by recalls, click here.


About the Author:

Mark Lehman became a News 6 reporter in July 2014, but he's been a Central Florida journalist and part of the News 6 team for much longer. While most people are fast asleep in their bed, Mark starts his day overnight by searching for news on the streets of Central Florida.