City officials have threatened to sue Ford motor company over fires erupting in Ford Crown Victoria patrol cars involved in rear-end collisions.
The only thing to blame was the grass Monday morning when a Dallas police patrol car went up in flames.
Lt. John Branton, commander of the traffic unit, said officers pulled their Crown Victoria patrol car over in the 3400 block of Dan Morton Drive in far southwest Dallas, to chase two men on foot who were suspected of stealing a car.
But the police cruiser was on a muddy area alongside the road, and Branton said its catalytic converter ignited grass under the car. The flames spread and eventually consumed the patrol car.
No one was injured in the fire, said Sgt. Gil Cerda, police spokesman. He said that the two suspects were arrested and that both would be charged with evading arrest, while one of them faced charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The city of Dallas has been critical of the Crown Victoria since October 2002 when officer Patrick Metzler died in his squad car, which exploded in a rear-end crash.
Metzler's parents recently reached an out-of-court settlement with Ford, but the city has indicated that it's prepared to sue Ford over Crown Victoria safety issues and recently bought patrol cars from Dodge.
Since Metzler's death, the city has retrofitted its Crown Victorias with gas-tank shields and converted some of its fleet to run on compressed natural gas. Officials also plan to install panels that will release a fire suppressant when crushed.
