— Mazda has been cleared in a lawsuit which alleges a 2019 Mazda CX-5 caused a fire that destroyed a garage and home in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania.
According to the lawsuit, the 2020 fire was caused by defects in the 2019 Mazda CX-5, which was new at the time.
Ardice and John Sweeney owned the home with the CX-5 parked in the garage. Following the fire, Erie Insurance Exchange paid to rebuild the property, but Erie blamed Mazda's SUV for the fire and sued for about $700,000 in damages.
The product liability lawsuit alleges the home burned due to battery wiring in the engine compartment of the 2019 Mazda CX-5. Experts for Erie testified all other possible causes for the fire had been ruled out
During the five-day trial, Mazda told the jury the CX-5 couldn't have caused the fire because the physical evidence and fire patterns proved the SUV was not the origin of the fire. Mazda also argued there were no wiring defects in the new CX-5, and jurors also heard Mazda claim that investigators with Erie Insurance failed to consider multiple other possible causes for the damaging fire.
According to Mazda, the fire could have been caused by a refrigerator or the electrical circuitry of the garage. The Monroe County jury was also told "improperly discarded smoking materials" could have started the fire, but in any event, the physical evidence allegedly pointed away from the vehicle.
The jury deliberated about two hours following the five-day trial and returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Mazda, finding the expensive fire was not caused by the 2019 CX-5.
The 2019 Mazda CX-5 lawsuit was filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County, Pennsylvania: Erie Insurance Exchange a/s/o Ardice and John Sweeney v. Mazda North American Operations et al., Case No. 5316-CV-2020.