Manitoba Public Insurance suing Ford over 8 vehicle fires, saying block heaters were at fault

Manitoba Public Insurance has launched another lawsuit against Ford, alleging faulty block heaters caused fires that destroyed eight vehicles in the province.

The lawsuit against Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd., which was filed last week in Court of King's Bench, claims the fires were caused by defects in the design, manufacture and/or installation of the block heaters.

The fires happened in Russell, Kenville, Stonewall and Winnipeg from March 2022 toApril 2023, according to the statement of claim.

In all cases, the vehicles' block heaters were "plugged into an appropriate power source" when the fires started and were damaged "beyond reasonable repair,"the statement of claim says.

In one example, a 2014 Escape was plugged into a power source inside a parkade in Winnipeg last February when it caught fire, and the flames spread to two other Ford vehicles parked nearby,the lawsuit says.

The insurer's lawsuit accuses the vehicle manufacturer of negligence by failing to adequately test the block heaters to make sure they were free from defects and/or properly installed.

As the insurer of the vehicles, MPI's lawsuit is seeking $252,212 in damages, which is the sum of the costs MPI had to pay out to the owners of the eight vehicles, plus court costs.

The lawsuit doesn't say whether any of the vehicles' block heaters or other parts were subject to safety recalls.

Second lawsuit

This is the second time in less than a year that MPI has sued Ford over a block heater fire.

Last November, the insurer filed a statement of claim seeking $15,932 for the loss of a 2014 Escape that caught fire outside a business on Raleigh Street in Winnipeg while its block heater was plugged in.

There were 127 vehicle-fire-related claims involving block heaters or block heater cords in gas or diesel vehicles reported to MPI from 2019 to 2023, including 41 in 2022 and 21 in 2023, data provided by the public insurer says.

When it comes to hybrid vehicles, MPI received 30 claims for the same issue within the same time period.

None of the claims have been tested in court and no statement of defence has been filed yet.

CBC News reached out to Ford for comment but has not received a response.