NHTSA Complaint #11714467 — 2024 FORD F-450 SD

n October 28th, I left Atlanta, Georgia with a load going to Pittsburgh–Philadelphia. On October 29th, 2025, around 12:30 a.m., I was approximately two miles north of Birch River, West Virginia. While driving uphill at a steady speed of about 60–65 mph, I suddenly heard a loud popping sound, as if something had exploded or blown inside the engine. Right after that, the truck immediately lost power, and I pulled over to the shoulder as quickly as I could. As I was stopping, I saw flames coming through the hood directly in front of me, mostly from the driver’s side. I grabbed the fire extinguisher from inside my cab and opened the hood. On the driver’s side of the engine, I saw heavy flames coming out under high pressure. I emptied the entire extinguisher, but the fire did not stop. Then I ran to get my second extinguisher from the trailer and used it completely as well, but the flames kept burning. I noticed that strong flames were also coming from underneath the front driver’s side wheel area.