Jamie Winiata with her scorched Samsung, one of a batch recalled in 2013.

Jamie Winiata's washing machine stinks like a rubbish fire after bursting into flames while full of her baby daughter's laundry.

What she did not know was her machine was one of about 4000 recalled by maker Samsung three years ago that have still not been returned or fixed.

Fires attributed to the machines have occurred in Ponsonby, Invercargill, Masterton, Runanga, Otorohanga and Pukekohe.

JOEL MAXWELL/ FAIRFAX NZ The model number for Winiata's machine, showing it was one of the four recalled models.

Now the Otaki fire brigade, whose firefighters had to wear breathing gear to put out the toxic fire in Winiata's wash-house on Monday, has put out a warning to other owners of the machines, and Samsung has apologised for failing to tackle the backlog.

READ MORE: Machines still bursting into flames

Winiata, of Jean Hing Pl, put on a load of washing in the sleepout linked to her home on Monday afternoon, and went inside to make dinner.

By chance she stepped outside and saw choking black smoke pouring out of the laundry. She ran in and saw the top-loader machine on fire.

She bolted outside, grabbed a 30-litre bucket filled with rainwater, ran back through the smoke and emptied it over the washing machine.

Her prompt actions bought time for firefighters to arrive and put it out completely. The washing machine was a few metres away from gas tanks, mounted on the outside wall of the sleepout.

"The flames were where the controls are, on the left hand side: quiet flames, but really intense," she said on Wednesday.

Otaki senior station officer Graeme Rankin said the brigade sent two trucks to the house about 4.40pm on Monday to extinguish the fire. Firefighters had to breathing apparatus because of toxic smoke from the burning machine.

The Fire Service would work with Samsung to try and find out the cause of the fire, he said.

LOSING TRACK OF BUYERS

Fire Service national manager of fire investigations Peter Wilding said there had been a number of recalled Samsung washing machines that had burst into flames.

"In most cases, they often have just affected the machine itself."

He said the recall highlighted the problem of manufacturers losing track of buyers from the point of sale.

The service was working with retailers to record phone numbers of people who buy electrical goods to make recalls easier, he said.

In a written statement, Samsung said it was responding to the Otaki incident and would "apologise and provide support".

There were about 4000 machines not found from the 36,000 sold before the recall. The recall was issued after it was discovered that water could leak into their electrics.

Customers were offered repairs, refunds or replacements.

"There are a number of outstanding machines which have not been addressed, and therefore pose a potential safety risk," Samsung said.

Customer safety was its top priority, and it had "taken ongoing proactive steps to encourage customers to check their machines".

The company would not respond to the question of liability for damage to a house if the defect caused a fire.

MODEL NUMBERS

Samsung recalled the following four models in New Zealand in 2013:

SW75V9WIP

SW65V9WIP

SW80SPWIP

SW70SPWIP

WHO DO I CALL?

People who want to check if their machine is an affected model can go to samsung.com/nz/support/rework/ or call 0800 855 502. Samsung says it will offer a rework, refund or replacement of recalled models.