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Wrongful Death Suit Charges House Fire Started in Ford Pickup Truck

June 17, 2005
Attorneys in Houston have filed suit on behalf of an Iowa woman who died in a fire at her home last month. The lawsuit says the fire started in the family's Ford F-150 pickup truck.

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Darletta Mohlis of Westgate, Iowa, died on May 2. Her husband of 34 years, Earl Mohlis, was injured in the fire, but survived.

An investigation showed the fire started in the F-150, then spread through the garage and the rest of the home. Further study has narrowed the list of potential causes to a cruise control deactivation switch.

Such switches already are the subject of a Ford recall, and an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA. In January, Ford recalled 740,000 Ford Expeditions, Lincoln Navigators and F-150 pickups that contained the switch. NHTSA is investigating reports of approximately 200 fires that have occurred in those vehicles.

Although Ford recalled only vehicles it manufactured in 2000, the automaker used the same switch on those it made from 1995-2002. The lawsuit alleges Ford deliberately limited the recall to save money. The Mohlis' F-150 was a 1996 model.

"If the company knows about the problem with the 2000 models, then it must also know the same trouble exists with the 1996 truck and the others," says Rob Ammons of the Ammons Law Firm in Houston, who represents the Mohlis family. "They made a decision based on cost. And in May, Darletta Mohlis paid the price."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating more than 3.7 million Ford pickups and sport utility vehicles because of a defect in the cruise control switch. The probe includes Ford F-150 pickups from the 1995-1999 and 2001-2002 model years, and Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators from the 1997-1999 and 2001-2002 model years.

NHTSA said in March it had received 218 complaints of engine fires from the cruise control switch.

Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said in a statement on Thursday that an inspection at the Mohlis' house "demonstrates conclusively that the fire did not originate from the 1996 Ford F-150, and specifically not from its speed control deactivation switch."

She said evidence suggests that the fire started elsewhere in the garage, spreading to the truck and the home.

"Ford continues to work and cooperate with NHTSA on its investigation of this tragic incident," Vokes said.

The lawsuit was filed in the 157th Judicial District Court in Harris County, Texas. It also names as defendants Texas Instruments, the maker of the switches, and DuPont manufactured Kapton and Teflon coatings used in the switch.

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