New Ford Everest under fire

See the updated story here.

A new Ford Everest spontaneously caught fire in New South Wales this week.

Fire and Rescue NSW sent two crews from Charlestown to fight the fire on Redhead Road after multiple triple-zero calls were made at around 4.30pm, Tuesday.

“They were on the scene within six or seven minutes,” a Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said.

“When they got there, the car was well alight. The road itself was blocked while crews fought the fire. It looks like the fire was extinguished by about 5pm, but the vehicle was destroyed.”

Ford Australia spokesman Wes Sherwood told 4X4 Australia the fire, which destroyed the Everest in less than 30 minutes, was surprising for Ford.

“We’re not going to speculate on what could happen,” Sherwood said.

“Our focus is on trying to find out what the facts are. We want to investigate the matter as thoroughly as possible.”

There are about 1000 Everest SUVs and more than 100,000 Ford Ranger utes on the road. The Ford Ranger and Everest have the same engine and electrical system and are made on the same Thailand production line.

What was left of the vehicle, which was being driven by News Corp Australia journalist Peter Barnwell when it caught fire, was returned to Ford.

No-one was injured during the fire.