NHTSA Complaint #10127153 — 1996 FORD BRONCO

FIRE IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT CAUSED BY CRUISE CONTROL BRAKE SWITCH. MY FIRST INDICATION OF A PROBLEM WAS THAT MY CRUISE CONTROL DID NOT WORK. I WENT TO MY GARAGE AND FOUND THAT A FUSE HAD BLOWN. WHEN I REPLACED THE FUSE, THE SWITCH ASSEMBLY, LOCATED DIRECTLY ABOVE THE BRAKE FLUID TANK, IMMEDIATELY IGNIGHTED, WHICH DESTROYED THE SWITCH AND MELTED PART OF THE BRAKE FLUID. WE PUT OUT THE FIRE WITH AN EXTINGUISHER, BOUGHT AND INSTALLED A REPLACEMENT SWITCH, AND IT NOW SEEMS TO BE WORKING OK. I HAD FIGURED IT WAS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT, UNTIL I LEARNED IT HAS HAPPENED TO HUNDREDS OF OTHER PEOPLE AND THAT A "PARTIAL" RECALL HAS BEEN CONDUCTED BY FORD, BUT THE RECALL DID NOT INCLUDE MY VEHICLE. NOW I'M AFRAID I MAY HAVE ANOTHER FIRE. I BECAME AWARE OF THIS BY WATCHING A CNN NEWS STORY ON THE PROBLEM.