ORLANDOFla. - Ford announced a recall of about 792,000 vehicles Thursday to address fires related to speed-control switches in four of the company's models.

The fires were reported in a series of WESH NewsChannel 2 reports in December.

The recall affects 2000 model year Ford F-150s, Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators, as well as 2001 F-Series Supercrew trucks manufactured during the same time period as the other 2000 model year vehicles, a Ford news release stated.

A WESH NewsChannel 2 investigation has discovered that even when turned off, each of these vehicles can burst into flames because the design allows electrical power to continue to flow from the battery to the switch.

"Therefore allowing the switch itself to continually heat up until it actually bursts into flames," said automotive expert Larry Perry.

Officials with the company recommend owners have the switches deactivated to eliminate the risk of fires. Ford will later notify owners of the vehicles by mail with information regarding how to correct the problem. The company is in the process of acquiring a sufficient supply of replacement speed-control switches.

Ford said it has received complaints of 63 fires, including from one person who was injured in a fire, but a WESH NewsChannel 2 investigation found the problem may be more widespread.

During a two-month investigation, WESH NewsChannel 2 documented more than 250 fires in these Ford vehicles. Our interviews with drivers, mechanics, fire investigators and federal safety investigators have led us to a tiny $13 part located under the hood.

Some owners have reported that their trucks caught fire without warning, sometimes after sitting parked for hours in parking lots, driveways, carports and garages.

Perry, a mechanic with Magic Mechanic, has been helping WESH NewsChannel 2 with our investigation for the last couple months. He said the part is failing because there's no back-up plan.

"It's actually fed by a constant 12 volts. There's no ignition key on, ignition key off situation with it. So, what's happening is, if there's a problem with this deactivation switch, that goes on to the master (brake) cylinder, it can literally short out and catch on fire without blowing a fuse, which is the circuit's protection," Perry said.

Perry said he thinks Ford's recall is too narrow.

"This goes from 1997 to 2002, and this is not Ford's first (time) with this problem," Perry said.

For more details go to MSN FORD