4/28/08 I drove to an appointment (25 miles) at which point it began to rain. I inadvertently turned on the rear wiper an immediately turned it off once I noticed it hit the bike rack on the back. There was a strong odorous burning smell. The smell was still present on the my return trip back home. 4/29/08 I did not notice the burning smell to and from work (2 miles). 4/30/08 on a trip downtown I was caught in rush hour traffic with my kids in the car. After about 45 minutes both the kids and I noticed a strong burning smell. I asked my son to check the rear window as it appeared smoke was now coming from the window/panel area. He yelled that it was smoke and that we need to pull over. Rear wipers had been turned off since Monday. We were able to get off the expressway and park to check out the damage. Upon opening the hatch a burning smell was quite intense. The plastic covering of the rear hatch (near the window) extremely hot and was too hot to touch. I immediately called the local Mazda dealership to ask what I should do and I was told that the service technicians had gone home for the day (4:30pm). I figured that I could pull the fuse which would remove the power source thus preventing any further damage. My son and I were able to remove the fuse and it appeared to have solved the problem for the return trip but it was difficult to tell as the car already had a strong burning smell within. I immediately called my father (a former auto worker in Michigan) to discuss this with him and he said the fuse should have blown and that it should not have escalated to the point of burning and smoking. He could provide no reason why the fuse would not have blown. I am scheduled for 5/14/08 to have this incident evaluated by the dealer.

- Park Ridge, IL, USA