Faulty brakes are being blamed for a semi-truck crash that ignited a wildfire in the South Okanagan Wednesday afternoon.
The driver veered onto a runaway lane after he was unable to slow the truck down while travelling along a steep section of Highway 3 near Osoyoos.
The vehicle overturned and caught fire at around 3:30 p.m., sparking a blaze at the base of Anarchist Mountain. The driver wasn't seriously injured, and managed to escape before the fire broke out.
RCMP Sgt. Kevin Schur was driving behind the semi-truck and called emergency crews after he seeing it lose control on the highway.
The wildfire spread quickly in the dry brush and was further fueled by the lumber the truck was carrying.It's believed to have spread over an area between five and seven hectares by 5 p.m.
As a precaution, an evacuation alert was issued to 12 residences in the area in case the fire got out of hand, the Anarchist Mountain Fire Department said. The alert was rescinded Wednesday night.
Ministry of Forestry crews remained on scene monitoring the fire guard.
