My car is a 1998 Volvo V70 T5 with 75,000 miles on the odometer. At about 7pm on December 28th, 2005, I moved the car from my driveway out onto the street in front of my house, in order to allow a second tandem-parked car out. The Volvo remained parked on the street, doors locked and windows up, until about 10pm. At 10pm I went to move it back into the driveway, only to discover that the interior had caught fire - the fire was no longer burning. The passenger seat was burnt down to the frame, and some of the surrounding trim on the door, dash and center console was burned and melted. The rest of the interior was not burned but was covered with soot. My insurance company - commerce insurance of Massachusetts - appraised the car and declared it to be a total loss. I can't say conclusively, but, it appears to me that the passenger side seat heater was the cause of the fire. I note that for model years 1996 and 1997 there was a recall against Volvo 850 seat heaters related to a fire hazard, but this recall does not apply to 1998 models. Perhaps the recall should be extended to later models.

- Somerville, MA, USA