Before firefighters could arrive, a Nissan SUV exploded in a Maryland driveway and went out of control, startling a family waking them and forcing them to flee the home.
Bethesda residents Vicki and Phillip Hill told USA Today on Friday that their 2015 Nissan Murano caught fire around 5:30 a.m. on May 14 while the couple and their three children were sleeping.
Doorbell footage shows smoke coming from under the hood of the Murano, then flames and the airbag exploding, waking the Hills and their three children, 5-year-old twins and a 7-year-old.
“I thought someone was trying to break into my house with a sledgehammer,” Vickie told USA Today. “Luckily, my neighbor’s dog smelled the smoke and woke her up early. She tried to get her dog outside, but when she saw our car was on fire, she called 911 about four minutes before I did.”
As horrifying as it is, the fire could have been much worse.
The family considers themselves lucky that the SUV was parked outside on the road and not in a garage next to a gas station, as they believe the house would have surely exploded if the car had been parked in the garage.
The family had been working on completing a garage so they could park their car, but work was delayed so they parked their SUV in the driveway, Vicki said.
Now, she said, she will probably never park her car in the garage again.
A vehicle fire forced a family to pay rent out of pocket.
Vicky owns a Mercedes Benz, which was parked near the Nissan Murano, but she said she is now unable to drive it.
“The whole right side is damaged,” she said. “All the wheels are damaged and the fire was very hot. Part of the driveway is also damaged and the garage door.”
The Hills said the family rented a car and had initially hoped Nissan would arrange for one to be provided, but were turned down. Nissan eventually offered to provide a loaner car on Friday afternoon, but it wouldn’t be ready until Monday or Tuesday, Vicky said.
Nissan told USA Today in a statement on Friday that it has launched an investigation into the incident.
“A technician visited the Hills home and performed an initial inspection before removing the vehicle,” Nissan said in a statement. “We believe it was subject to a recall, but we cannot comment further on this specific incident until the investigation is complete.”
The Hills said they were initially told it would take Nissan six to eight weeks to inspect the wreckage in their driveway.
Family members spoke to local TV station FOX 5 DC and Nissan said investigators were on scene and would be looking into the situation. Investigators were expected to inspect the vehicle on Wednesday and then move it to another location for storage, the Hills told USA Today.
The vehicle has a recall history.
Since 2015, the Murano has had numerous recalls.
Three of the recalls involve fires, with the most recent filed on November 8, 2019. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a leaking anti-lock braking system (ABS) pump could cause an electrical short, increasing the risk of fire in SUVs.
Philip said there was a recall on the pump for his Nissan Murano in 2016. He took his car to a service center to have it repaired.
The fire department was called to the scene of the most recent fire and cited the recall, but the Hills said they’re not sure what caused the blaze.
“It could have been due to a recall or it could have been a different issue with the vehicle,” she said. “We won’t know until Nissan completes their investigation.”
The Hills said they bought the car new with only 62,000 miles on it, and with both cars damaged, they worry they’ll soon be owed payments on both cars.
Children traumatized by vehicle fire
No one was physically injured in the fire, but the Hills said their children have not been able to sleep and are very scared.
“My kids cry and get scared every time they hear the sirens,” Vicky told USA Today. “We finally got a rental car, but they’re scared to get in the car. At night, they worry that someone else’s car will catch fire.”
Vicky said she will never let her children park their car in the garage, even when they are old enough to drive, because of the psychological impact of the fire, which she said is being prolonged by the damage that is still visible.
“I want to fix up the house and the driveway so my kids don’t always see and remember the house,” she said. “The car is gone, but the smell is still outside.”
As of Friday afternoon, the family was still waiting to hear from Nissan, which said it would contact them within two weeks after investigators were on scene on Wednesday.
“We’re waiting to see how the investigation goes,” Phillip said. “It would be nice to say, ‘We’ll help you out with a loaner car.’
“The fact that this happened is very disturbing, but the bigger issue is how the company handled it,” Vicky said. “If they had acted like they cared a little bit, I think our situation would have been different.”
They said they wanted to share their story so other families know how this affects them.
“This kind of thing doesn’t happen,” Philip said, “it’s not common. People need to be aware.”
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA Today’s NOW team. She’s from 757 in Norfolk, Virginia. Follow her on Twitter:Saleen Martin or by emailemail address.
