(CNN) -- The fiery crash that Jenelle Embrey witnessed last year prompted her to become a leading critic of the Jeep Cherokee's safety record. The car driving behind her was rear-ended by a truck on a highway near Winchester, Virginia, in October. The 1998 Jeep Cherokee crumpled like an accordion when a tractor-trailer hit it at more than 60 mph. All three occupants were alive after the impact, Embrey says. But two of them died in the subsequent fire. "The whole thing had gone up in flames," she said. "And we watched those people burn to death." Desperate to help, her father, Harry Hamilton, ran to the Jeep and broke the windows with his bare hands.
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Jenelle Embrey says the fiery crash occurred because of the placement of the fuel tank
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Chrysler rejects request to recall 2.7 million vehicles
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It's the first time since 1996 that an automaker has fully challenged a recall demand
Embrey has mounted a personal campaign against the @placeholder design.