GM investigating fire

By Matt Smith/msmith@trcle.com Tue, May 13 2008

— General Motors is investigating a fire in which a GMC Yukon burst into flames and destroyed a Keene couples’ home Friday, said Craig Eppling, GM south central regional manager.
“We’re trying to contact the owners so we can review what happened to the vehicle,” Eppling said. “We manufactured 423,000 of those models last year and have not had a large number of these incidents, so we want to know what happened.
“We’re interested both from a product standpoint, and out of concern for the family.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation in February into reports of unattended GMC Yukons and Chevrolet Tahoes catching on fire and burning homes.
Dennis and Debbie Lehman’s GMC Yukon apparently caught fire early Friday morning while the couple slept. The fire destroyed the SUV and spread to destroy their home. The charred vehicle remains parked about 15 feet from the home’s front door on the circular driveway.
The Lehmans have contacted NHTSA about their case, said Dennis Lehman, a doctor with an office in Fort Worth. A Dallas attorney hired by GM to lead the investigation contacted Dennis Lehman to get information, he said.
“The fire investigation company for GM were set to come out Thursday,” Dennis Lehman said. “But the State Farm investigator [the Lehmans’ insurance agent] wanted to be there too, and couldn’t on that day. So now it’s going to be probably sometime the week after next.”
The SUV will need to stay where it is in the mean time, Dennis Lehman said.
The Lehmans lived in the house for 29 years but said they have not decided whether to rebuild. The fire destroyed most of their personal items. A woman renting a detached apartment on the property, which was not affected by the fire, remains there, Dennis Lehman said. The Lehmans, for now, are staying with their daughter and son-in-law in Rendon.
Several fire departments responded to the fire but were hampered because the area, annexed by Keene about two years ago, has no fire hydrants.