Christopher Beard, director of public affairs for S.C. Johnson, released the following statement in response to a Feb. 12 house fire in Clayton:

We are aware of the fire that occurred on February 12th, 2009 in Clayton, North Carolina, and the initial allegations that the fire may have been started by a Glade® plug in product. We are confident that the fire was NOT started by one of our products. As is standard procedure for allegations involving our products, SC Johnson sent a fire investigator to the scene of the fire to evaluate the incident and work with local law enforcement. The investigator concluded that our products did not cause the fire.

SC Johnson takes the issue of product safety very seriously and Glade® PlugIns®, like all SC Johnson products, meet or exceed safety requirements. Glade® PlugIns® products have been tested by Underwriters Laboratories and other independent laboratories. According to Underwriters Laboratories, ” Plug-in air fresheners are a very common household appliance that is quite popular with consumers. On rare occasions a fire in a home is reported to be caused by an air freshener. Without examining the product and the home, there is no way of knowing the exact cause. Other factors have been found that have been the cause or contributed to these fires. Worn out electrical outlets, poor mechanical connections between the outlet and the wires in the wall and major malfunctions in the home electrical distribution system have also been recognized as the cause of fires that have occurred where air fresheners are used. Consumers should always look for the UL Mark when buying any product. Care must be taken to be sure that newspapers and other combustible material is not in close proximity to the air freshener when it is in use.”

As a family company, SC Johnson takes very seriously the responsibility of providing consumers with high quality, safe and effective products. Like all of the company’s products, Glade® PlugIns® are safe and effective when used as directed. These products have been sold for nearly 20 years and the millions of consumers using the product can continue to do so with complete confidence.