U.S. safety regulator investigates fires in some Ford pickup trucks

U.S. traffic safety regulator is investigating complaints of fire during crashes in some Ford Motor F-150 Supercrew pickup trucks associated with a seat belt component.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated there were five complaints alleging fires after the activation of seat-belt pretensioners made by ZF TRW or Takata Corp during a crash having the vehicles.

Pretensioners tighten up any slack in the seat belt webbing in the incident of a crash and work in tandem with air bags.

Though there were no injuries or fatalities, three of the vehicles were totally destroyed by the fire, the NHTSA stated.

An estimated 1.4 million vehicles constructed between 2015 and 2018 could be affected in the probe, the NHTSA stated.