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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- One of the four recent car fires in Ottumwa has been ruled arson. But officials believe the other three blazes are not connected, rather old wiring is to blame in the summer heat.

Wayne Huit is a longtime auto mechanic, and the owner of Wayne's Tires in Ottumwa. He told KTVO that there are some precautionary measures that car owners can do. He said it is essential to regularly check the fuel-lines in a car, and to keep them up-to-date.

"There are just so many things that can happen. If you are working on a vehicle, you need to know what you're doing when you're working on it. Don't be tinkering with stuff that you don't know what it is, because you can cause fires easily around carburetors. Most stuff nowadays is all fuel-injected, so you [may not] have a carburetor," Huit said.

He added that it is always best to have a vehicle checked by a professional, if the car owner can afford it in this economy...especially with all of the digitized components in cars.

"It takes a lot of sophisticated tools now to diagnose the problems with these cars. It used to be anybody could work on them. But it's getting to the point now where you really have to have a lot of schooling to do it. And it takes a lot of time and a lot of money," Huit said.

At this time the Ottumwa Police and Fire Department are investigating the recent car fires. Officials with both departments have stated that it is likely a coincidence that the fires happened in a close proximity of time.