Car sparks house fire -- and lawsuit in Jackson County Court

Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press, Aug 22, 2007 by Charles Emerick

A Jackson County jury will decide whether a defective alternator or a bad battery sparked a car fired that destroyed an elderly couple's Leawood home four years ago.

During opening statements before Circuit Judge Justine Del Muro Tuesday morning, plaintiffs' attorney Karrie Clinkinbeard, of Armstrong Teasdale, told the jury that Ford Motor Co. knew of a defect involving a remanufactured alternator and other parts more than a decade ago but refused to address the problem.

She said Ford's conscious disregard entitled her clients, Jack and Virginia Clark, to punitive damages for the July 2003 fire that destroyed the house they built in 1961.

"This is where the fire burned the hottest and the longest," said Clinkinbeard as a projected photo showed a melted alternator that allegedly started the blaze.

Clinkinbeard said the fire started under the hood on the driver's side of the Clarks' 1990 Lincoln Towncar while it was parked in their garage. The alternator was located on the same side.

The Clarks' lawsuit claimed that the alternator, which was replaced by Extreme Ford in Kansas City in September 2000, had problems with the plug connector and that created additional heat.

The fire started about 20 minutes after the Clarks returned home from a short trip to an appointment with a doctor. Both Jack and Virginia Clark testified that they did not smell or hear anything unusual during the short drive.

Victoria Clark said they lost about $112,000 in possessions in the fire. The couple sold the damaged home for $69,000.

Clinkinbeard said the Towncar's front tires also proved that the fire started in the alternator. The driver's side tire, located near the alternator, was consumed by the fire while the passenger side tire still held air and "was essentially unharmed," she said.

She added that Ford knew of the defect and she presented technical service bulletins that the company sent out to its dealerships informing them of issues involving the alternator.

But those letters, Clinkinbeard said, were not made public and never mentioned the possibility of a fire.

"They didn't get the word out," she said.

The defense, which did not deny that the fire started under the hood, had its own explanations.

Willie Epps Jr., a Shook, Hardy & Bacon partner representing the defendants, said an "abused and misused" battery sparked the blaze.

"We're here because the Clarks blame Ford and Extreme Ford," he said. "But it was the battery that started the fire."

Epps said Jack Clark or his son, Steve, often had to jump-start the car because it was used infrequently, sometimes sitting for weeks at a time. The 1990 Towncar had approximately 71,000 miles at the time of the 2003 fire, Jack Clark testified.

Also, Epps said Jack Clark stopped taking his car to Extreme Ford after he had the alternator and battery replaced in September 2000. For regular maintenance, Clark took the car to a mechanic who has since gone bankrupt.

Epps said that just five days before the fire, the mechanic told Clark that there was nothing wrong with his battery, even though he had to jump-start it at least once a month and sometimes once per week.

Regarding issues Ford had with its alternators, Epps said the company acted in good faith and investigated the claims.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration closed its own investigation into an alleged defect without issuing a recall.