# 2017 KIA FORTE — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
> NHTSA complaint `2126088` · 2025-09-02 · Kia America, Inc.
## Severity
- **Deaths:** 0
- **Injured:** 0
- **Fire:** Yes
- **Crash:** No
- **Police report:** No
- **Medical attention:** Yes
- **Vehicle towed:** No
## Vehicle
- **Make:** KIA
- **Model:** FORTE
- **Year:** 2017
- **Manufacturer:** Kia America, Inc.
- **Component:** ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- **Speed:** 65 mph
## Narrative
On [XXX] at [XXX], I was driving on [XXX] , when I noticed smoke come from the left side of the interior of the car near the fuse box. Within seconds, the fuse box exploded, and a fire developed. The fire engulfed the entire left side of the interior of the car. the car shut down and I was able to pull over to the side of the road. I tried to put the fire out with my left foot, but couldn't stop the fire. Luckily, I had 5 bottles of water with me in the car. I put all of the 5 water bottles on the fire and  eventually put out the fire. But the smoke was so severe that it filled the entire car. I couldn't breath. I fell out of the car and hurt my knees. I noticed that my left toes were burnt and my new shoes that I had bought were ruined. I tried to call 911 but my phone was not working. Again I tried to call 911 and succeeded. The NJ State Police arrive 15 minutes later. I was towed to a KIA dealership in Burlington NJ. They declared the car a total loss with over $18,000 worth of damage. Every wire in the car was destroyed  INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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*Source: [NHTSA ODI](https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/) · AI Analytics · CC0 1.0*