Ucluelet police are advising drivers to carry fire extinguishers in their vehicles after a pickup truck became engulfed in flames on the highway between Tofino and Ucluelet Sunday morning.
Ucluelet’s Deputy Fire Chief Mark Fortune said the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames when the Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived at the scene around 10:30 a.m. and that it took roughly six minutes to extinguish the fire. The highway was closed for several minutes while the crew battled the blaze.
Const. Matthew Crist of the Ucluelet RCMP said the fire is believed to have been caused by a mechanical issue and is not considered suspicious. He said the driver, a West Coast resident who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, escaped unharmed, but the truck was completely destroyed.
“The information that we received from the driver was he noted smoke first of all coming from outside of the vehicle and he pulled over to the side of the highway and got out of the truck and noticed a small amount of flame coming from one of the wheels,” Crist said.
“Had he had a fire extinguisher with him, it’s quite possible he could have doused the fire. But, without that on hand, it quickly escalated and fully engulfed the truck. We do recommend that everybody carries a fire extinguisher in their vehicle for just that reason.”