100 Mile Fire Rescue responded to a mini-van fire on Exeter Truck Road Tuesday morning.
The incident occurred around 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday, July 16. Deputy Fire Chief Cole Sparreboom said four apparatuses responded to the incident with the support of 100 Mile House RCMP, B.C. Emergency Health Services and B.C. Hydro.
"On arrival, a vehicle was in the ditch facing southbound. The vehicle was fully involved with the lone occupant out of the vehicle with no injuries," Sparreboom said. "There was a second vehicle involved in the incident that was struck by a cable that was attached to the hydro pole involved. That vehicle did sustain damage to the windshield but no injuries to the occupant.
The mini-van was fully extinguished by 8:45 a.m. with firefighters staying on scene until 9:30 a.m. to douse the wreckage to prevent further flare-ups.
Sgt. Brian Lamb said that RCMP spoke with the driver of the vehicle who told them they had lost the brakes when the vehicle caught on fire.
"The driver jumped out of the vehicle and the vehicle proceeded to go into the ditch striking a utility pole," Lamb said. "A hydro wire broke as a result and came down striking two other vehicles causing damage to each."
Lamb said none of the occupants of the other vehicles were injured and that 100 Mile Fire Rescue was able to extinguish the fire before it spread. As a result of the pole being hit, a power outage was caused impacting 3,176 customers along Highway 97 including the communities of 108 Mile Ranch and Lac La Hache. A B.C. Hydro crew was able to restore power by noon with power being off for about three hours for impacted residents.
Lamb said there were some traffic delays as the vehicle was towed away and B.C. Hydro completed their repairs.
