Ford recalls 18,000 Ranger pickups due to fire hazard

Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Company issued a safety recall Monday for thousands of its compact pickup trucks due to an electrical risk that could lead to a fire, officials said.

Ford said it's recalling 18,000 of its 2019 Ranger models due to an electrical defect in the HVAC blower motor.

The initial design left insufficient clearance between the terminal and the conductive base-plate slot that could cause an electrical short -- and lead to overheating, smoke or fire.

The vehicles were built at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., between Aug. 1 and Sept. 27.

Ford said it's not aware of any injuries due to the defect. There has been one report of a driver seeing smoke and six others prior to delivery.

Ford resurrected the Ranger for the 2019 model year nearly a decade after retiring the vehicle. For much of its initial production run between 1983 and 2011, the Ranger was the best-selling compact pickup in the United States.