A local veterinarian is suing a Waterloo auto dealership following a damaging vehicle fire that occurred in 2020.

A lawsuit filed in Monroe County Circuit Court by Donald McCroskey, a practicing equine vet, alleges negligence on the part of Sunset Ford and seeks a monetary judgment in excess of $50,000.

According to the filing, McCroskey brought his 2002 Ford F-350 to the service shop at Sunset Ford, located at 1425 N. Illinois Route 3 in Waterloo, on Dec. 2, 2019. This was for maintenance and repair due to a factory safety recall for a faulty wiring harness in the truck that could cause a vehicle fire with or without the engine running.

Sunset Ford kept McCroskey’s vehicle from Dec. 2, 2019, to Feb. 20, 2020, per the filing.

The remedy for this malfunction was to install a fused wiring harness free of charge to the customer, the suit states.

On April 30, 2020, McCroskey was driving his truck while towing an occupied horse trailer when the engine compartment caught fire. The source of the fire was a faulty wiring harness, according to the suit. 

The truck and trailer became fully engulfed in flames, after which the driver escaped and rescued the horse. McCroskey sustained burns and cuts to his hands and experienced emotional distress as a result of the incident, per the filing. 

The truck and trailer were a total loss. 

McCroskey alleges negligence on the part of Sunset Ford in that they ignored the safety recall, failed to replace the faulty wiring harness and left the existing harness in the truck.