MORGAN CITY, LA (WAFB) - Mark Bergeron said he was at work when he received a call from his wife, Margaret Bergeron, telling him her car, a 2012 KIA Sorrento, was on fire. She was taking their kids to school and stopped by her mom’s house after seeing smoke coming the car's engine. Mark Bergeron said he rushed to their location but was not prepared for what he saw.
“I got to the end of the road and I saw the car and I'm freaking out," Mark Bergeron said. "There's no words to explain it. It was just crazy."
Fortunately, no one was injured, but the memories have left behind emotional scars.
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“They were scared for a while to even get in a vehicle," Margaret Bergeron said.
“I was really scared," their son said. "My sister, Melanie, she was screaming saying we’re all gonna die."
So, could this have been prevented?
The family received a letter stating there was a recall on the car's engine. In March, the family took the vehicle to the Kia dealership in Houma where they bought a car. It passed inspection, but a month a later, it burst into flames.
“A month and a half after we brought it to them, the vehicle catches fire and it's a total loss," Mark Bergeron said. "We brought it in because we didn't want that to happen."
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The family said they got a notice in the mail in June of 2017 from Kia issuing a recall in June of 2017 for their Sorrento's engine.
More than a million Kia and Hyundai cars are under recall for engine failure. However, when the 9News Alert team put the Bergeron's car's VIN number into Kia's recall search engine, no results turned up.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating the company due to complaints of car fires.
It can be hard to keep up to date on potential recalls or safety issues. Auto companies will often send you a letter if there is an active recall, but you can check for yourself using the NHTSA'swebsite.
Click on the recalls tab and enter your car's VIN number or model and see if there are any recalls currently in place you need to get checked out.
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