NHTSA Complaint #11446081 — 2014 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

On December 31, 2021, at approximately 12:30pm CST, I was driving my fathers 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe down I-94 in Michigan City/ LaPorte area of Indiana. In the vehicle was my father, my wife and my brother. I was driving at approximately 70-75 mph and I started hearing a rattling noise when I accelerated. It sounded as if the vehicle had a loose heat shield on the exhaust, so I didn't think too much of it. About 45-60 seconds after that, all the dash lights came on and I pulled off to the side of the highway. I turned the vehicle off and waited about 30 seconds and tried to start it back up, which it did not do. I then noticed smoke coming from under the hood, so I told everyone to get out of the vehicle and I popped the hood latch. I opened the hood and tried to determine where the smoke was coming from, however it was coming from under other parts in the engine, so I could determine what exactly was smoking. I then saw a flame. I told everyone to get back and I immediately called 911. Within 10-15 minutes, a firefighter pulled up in a pick-up truck. He assessed the situation and spoke with my father. Ten minutes after that, other firefighters showed up with an engine and extinguished the fire. By that time though, the fire had completely engulfed the entire front end of the vehicle. We spoke with the police officers after a short wait, a tow truck came and picked up the vehicle and we were picked up by other family members.