Vehicle fire prompts partial closure of B.C. highway near Hope

A photo submitted to CTV News Vancouver by witness Sean Cote shows smoke from a vehicle fire on B.C. Highway 5 Tuesday, July 20, 2021.

VANCOUVER -

A busy B.C. highway was partially closed Tuesday afternoon due to a vehicle fire, highway patrol officers said.

A northbound section of Highway 5 was closed at around 1:30 p.m. at the split with Highway 3 due to the fire, the RCMP's B.C. Highway Patrol said in an advisory. Southbound and westbound traffic was unaffected.

By 4 p.m., authorities had reopened a single lane of traffic to pass around the scene as crews cleared the area. By about 4:30 p.m., the highway was reopened in both directions.

According to officials, the vehicle on fire was parked on the Coquihalla Highway near the Othello pullout.

"The fire is in BC Forestry’s jurisdiction. Conditions are very dry and the BC Wildfire Service is deploying a helicopter with water bucket to the scene," BCHP said.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire. The RCMP said firefighters would remain at the scene for a time in case of any flare-ups.

A man who said he'd driven the occupants of the truck to Kamloops after meeting with the RCMP said the people involved lost everything in the fire.

Sean Cote told CTV News they'd told him they were moving their daughter, who had recently been in a serious car crash, then were heading camping.

He said they told him they'd just bought the truck, and had it fully serviced.

Cote said it sounded like it may have been a fuel leak. They told him the truck went up in flames quickly, and they barely got out without being harmed.