Ford Expedition blamed in fire of vehicles rented by Secret Service

Vehicles rented to accompany President Joe Biden on his Thanksgiving weekend trip to Nantucket, Massachusetts, Sunday burst into flames several hours after they were returned to Nantucket Memorial Airport and the preliminary investigation points to a Ford Expedition that was under recall for a faulty battery.

“The Secret Service had rented the vehicles for the president’s trip and dropped the SUVs off at Hertz on Sunday night,” Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service communications chief, told the Free Press on Wednesday. “We were made aware of one Ford SUV catching fire early Monday morning. That SUV was parked next to several other vehicles which also caught fire because of the proximity to the Ford SUV. We had no issues when we drove the vehicles and they were returned without incident. The Ford SUV that caught fire was a Secret Service support vehicle and not used to transport any protectees.”

The federal agency is looking forward to following up with local fire authorities on the island, he said.