Photo: Derek Ingram

A group of people helped put out a roadside fire on Westside Road Thursday.

The quick thinking of several passing motorists stopped a potential wildfire before it took off Thursday.

Derek Ingram was driving with his girlfriend on Westside Road, just south of Fintry, at about 2 p.m., when he noticed two women pulled over on the side of the road.

“I couldn't figure out what they were doing flailing around in the trunk, and then another 100 feet I saw the flames,” Ingram said.

He pulled over to the side of the road, and with the creative help of several others, they managed to put it out.

“There was a couple there that had a couple shovels, a guy had a fire extinguisher, a couple of girls had some water bottles and I have size 11.5 feet,” he said.

“It must have just started two or three minutes before. We all got there just in time or it would have gone right up that mountain.”

While Ingram couldn't definitely say what sparked the fire, he said it started right beside the road.

A woman who helped put out the blaze called the fire department, but Ingram said he wasn't sure if they responded. He was confident they had it out before he left the area.

The group's quick response likely saved precious resources needed for the several other fires burning in the area.