March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Recall car caused Dexter house fire> Blaze originated in Grand Am engine

DEXTER — A 1990 Pontiac Grand Am, the same make of motor vehicle recalled in the early 1990s for a faulty fuel hose, was the cause of a fire that destroyed a Dexter home last week, according to a state fire investigator.

The fire that destroyed the Dexter home of Bob and Tammy Lockhart originated in the engine compartment of a 1990 Grand Am that had been parked inside the family’s garage, according to Investigator Stewart Jacobs.

Tammy Lockhart told authorities she had done some errands in the vehicle on July 16 before returning home and parking it in the garage. She told Dexter Fire Chief Melvin Wyman she had just sat down on the couch to read the newspaper when she heard a popping sound and the telephone rang once. When she went into her kitchen to investigate the noise, she found her home’s new addition in flames.

Jacobs said his department had investigated other fires in the state which involved fuel-system failures in the same make and year as Lockhart’s car.

General Motors Corp. in 1990 issued a recall of 418,000 cars equipped with Quad-4 engines which included Pontiac Grand Ams manufactured in 1988-90.

According to a Washington Post story March 29, 1991, a GM spokesman said the vehicles might contain a defect that could lead to incomplete fuel combustion, exhaust system failure and faulty starts. The spokesman said the suspected defect was not classified as a safety problem, although in rare cases it could cause a catalytic converter to overheat and ignite materials such as leaves or trash underneath a parked car.

Jacobs said Thursday he believes the insurance company that insured the Lockhart’s home planned to examine the vehicle, as well.


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