When Julie Klaasmeyer heard a sauna was the origin of a Sunday townhome fire in Overland Park, the incident was eerily familiar.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Klaasmeyer’s own infrared sauna caught fire in a room inside her Paola home Saturday afternoon.
“As fast as it ignited after we smelled it, I think that we would've had a disaster had we not been awake or around,” said Klaasmeyer.
The Klaasmeyer’s smelled smoke when she was getting ready to see a movie.
“If we would've left on time or just a few minutes earlier our whole house would have been destroyed,” said Klaasmeyer.
Klaasmeyer notes the fire started on the control panel side of her infrared sauna she purchased a year earlier. Her husband, Dale, was able to put it out after removing a top panel.
“I don’t know. Is it our sauna? Is it this brand of sauna? I don’t know. I don’t know if it was wiring that led up to [the fire],” said Klaasmeyer.
She is hoping the Overland Park Fire Department may be able to help answer some of those questions during one or both of their sauna fire investigations.
A fire near 95th and Antioch on Sunday was attributed to a personal sauna in a basement and the OPFD also investigated a fire in June near 129th and Farley that started with a personal sauna.
“I would like to know,” said Klaasmeyer, “If it is the type of sauna we have that’s more prone to this, or if it’s the brand. Maybe they were having trouble with it.”
41 Action News reached out to both Missouri and Kansas Attorney General offices. They’ve received zero consumer complaints of infrared saunas being a fire hazard.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is not reporting any active recalls of infrared saunas.
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
