How heartbreaking! I'm so sorry for your friend. And thank you for sharing this as a caution to others. I had no idea.

What brand? How old? So sorry for your friend. Thanks for the warning.

It is heartbreaking seeing that beautiful house up in smoke.

@K L I'm not sure what brand or how old the oven was to be honest, didn't think to ask. I'll see if I can find out.

Wow. Give your friend a hug for me. Losing a house to a fire is devastating. I hope she is/was able to recover some of her things.

Also confirm whether gas (natural or propane) or electric.

That is crazy, specially since the subject of using self-cleaning had just been brought up again in one of the forums in the past week or so.

So sorry this happened to your friend and her family, but glad no one was injured.

Another reason to love my Miele CSO and it steam-soak cleaning cycle. It doesn't require super high temps, uses steam and takes about 15 minutes. Works even better if you use the Miele DG spray cleaner, with the clean/soak cycle, for more stubborn stains.

Oh, that is so sad. Thank you for posting a warning here.

I posted this on a different board. I have a 30 year old oven that I used the self cleaning cycle on twice a year without incident. It has just bit the dust and in researching what oven to buy, I've seen malfunction stories. I don't understand what has changed that now there are all these issues.

Chispa, does that steam feature really clean? Lots of ovens have both the self clean and the easy clean(the steam cycle) and people are complaining it doesn't work that well.

The picture of that house looks like the house is pretty old. Wonder if the electrical has been reworked to bring it to currant code.

Where was this? And when?

Something like 30 years ago, our friends' self-cleaning oven nearly burnt their house down. I've foresworn using that feature ever since (which always made me nervous, anyway). Personally, I think it's always been an issue, but it gets more notice now.

@Trapped, I have a Miele Convection/Steam oven, which is a full steam oven and not just an oven with a steam clean cycle. I also have a model that is plumbed, so it is hooked up to water and a drain, so very easy for me to run the Soak cycle after every use, which keeps the whole interior quite clean. After the 10 minute soak cycle I wipe it down with a couple of paper towels.

If only I could keep my outdoor grill clean that easily! I'll be paying a grill cleaning service to come do that every other year! I can keep ovens clean, but not outdoor grills!

So sorry to hear about that tragedy. There is a new TV series called “Panic 911”. It showcases 911 emergency calls. A recent episode we watched was about a woman who started her self cleaning oven, did not tell any family members about this, she left the house and later the oven caught fire. Her daughter was trapped inside the burning home, and luckily was rescued by the fire department when she called 911. I never have, and never would, use my ovens self cleaning feature! I must be a tidy cook; I cook from scratch, use my oven often and it stll looks pretty clean ( its about 3 years old). I have read way too many stories about self cleaning ovens catching on fire.

No more self cleaning for me!

I am so sorry for your friend - I can't imagine having this happen.

What a horrible story! But it doesn't surprise me:

When we got our new stove -- maybe a decade ago? -- I was excited to try out the self-cleaning option. Turned it on, and it wouldn't turn off! Heat was coming off the oven in waves, and I didn't know what to do! Fortunately my husband came home from work, found me panicking, and he just flipped off the circuit breaker, removing power from the range. (Why couldn't I think of that myself?) . When the oven cooled off, we pulled it out from the wall and unplugged it until a repair man could come. Cost me about $500 for a mother board (?).

Never again. I was genuinely afraid.

I've never used the self-cleaning feature on any of my ovens, but then I've never noticed them getting dirty. I make sure that I put jellyroll pans under pans that I think might spill over, and that has worked well for me.

I use toaster ovens whenever possible, partly to prevent heating the kitchens.