Campbell woman says glass shelf explodes without warning

CAMPBELL, Calif. (KGO) -- A loud explosion in the early morning shocked a Campbell woman out of a dead sleep. She was even more startled to find the source of that sound.

Most of us wouldn't expect a glass shelf to shatter spontaneously, but that's exactly what happened on, of all days, the Fourth of July.

The top shelf of Carla Turner's television stand is no longer there. She recalls the night the top shelf shattered into seemingly thousands of little pieces.

"Not only did we hear it, but our neighbors across the street heard it and our neighbors on either side heard it."

Turner assumed that something had hit the side of the house. When she didn't find anything there, she went back to sleep. The next morning she discovered glass all over her living room.

"It was under everything. It was under all the couches, all the chairs, it was, like I said, even today when I clean, sometimes I'll find a piece or two of it," she said.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened.

In 2011 we reported that a sunroof of a vehicle shattered spontaneously, sending glass fragments on top of a San Jose woman's head. Then in 2013 we told you about the shower door that exploded without warning at a South Bay home. All three times, the incidents involved tempered glass.

Turner asked us for help getting answers.

We contacted Whalen Furniture, the manufacturer of Turner's TV stand. A spokesperson told us tempered glass, by design, is meant to fracture into small pieces because tiny fragments are less likely to cause injury. He called such incidents rare, but speculated it could have been caused by overloading or tension on the shelf.

Turner says there was no warning anything like this could happen.

"I never saw anything wrong. It was like spontaneous combustion."

Turner tried for months to get a refund of her TV stand which she bought four years ago. After we contacted Whalen, they agreed.

They told us "The incident with Ms. Turner is very unfortunate and we're thankful that no one was hurt."

"Michael Finney is amazing and 7 On Your Side is amazing," said Carla. "I mean I watch it every night."

Thank you, Carla, we appreciate that.

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