Kia’s K5 sedan has found itself in the spotlight this week, but that’s not why drivers might find themselves getting a little warm. That would be the fire raging under the rear floorpan, the risk of which is causing Kia to recall 250,547 examples of the midsize four-door in the US.

It’s the kind of recall that makes owners grip the steering wheel a little tighter while they wait for the fix, even if the latter is pretty straightforward.

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According to documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the issue involves the purge control check valve in K5’s fuel system.

On certain vehicles, pressurized air can flow from the intake manifold into the fuel tank. If that happens, the tank could expand like a football fan’s belly seven beers into to the Superbowl, potentially making contact with the exhaust and melting. Scary stuff indeed.

Kia says it first became aware of the issue after receiving several complaints about leaked fuel or the smell of leaked fuel. Engineers traced the root cause to deterioration in the purge control system check valve, which allows the intake pressure to build up inside the tank.

The recall affects certain 2021–2024 K5 models built at Kia’s Georgia plant, but only those with the 1.6-liter T-GDI turbo engine and not the 2.5-liter mill.

The good news is that the company says it is not aware of any injuries or accidents related to the defect and owners can continue driving while they wait for the repair.

Kia will start mailing out letters to owners about the recall in January. From that point they’ll be able to schedule a visit to a dealer, who will check the tank and replace it if there are signs of damage.

And even if the tank looks healthy, the faulty valve that can cause all this drama will be swapped out to make sure the issue doesn’t occur down the road.